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Restorative Yoga Class Themes by Mary Irby, MS, ERYT-500

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Restorative Yoga Class Themes by Mary Irby, MS, ERYT-500 Restorative Yoga Class Themes by Mary Irby, MS, ERYT-500 www.WhiteCrowYoga.com 1 Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 3 Theme 1: Authenticity .................................................................................................................................. 5 Theme 2: Contentment ................................................................................................................................. 6 Theme 3: Gratitude ....................................................................................................................................... 7 Theme 4: Self-Care ........................................................................................................................................ 8 Theme 5: Manifesting our Desires ................................................................................................................ 9 Theme 6: Right Knowledge ........................................................................................................................ 10 Theme 7: Manipura/Third Chakra .............................................................................................................. 11 Theme 8: Acceptance .................................................................................................................................. 12 Theme 9: Humility ...................................................................................................................................... 13 Theme 10: Love .......................................................................................................................................... 14 2 Introduction Welcome to Restorative Yoga Class Themes! We sincerely hope you enjoy this material. At White Crow Yoga, we train our students to implement class themes into their teaching. We believe this helps instructors be true yoga teachers and not simply asana leaders. To truly teach yoga, we must dig deep and share a philosophy, encouraging much more than physical strength, flexibility and endurance. Yoga is about so much more! Please note that throughout this book, you will notice that much of it is written from the standpoint of being used by a teacher. However, you can easily modify this for your own personal practice. You don’t have to be a teacher to benefit from this material. Even if you are planning to teach with the material, it’s best to first use it in your personal practice to get a feel for the material and be able to present it in a polished manner. A way to use class themes is to pick a yoga-centered theme such as love, joy, peace, gratitude, empathy, strength, beauty, letting go, being present, awareness, consciousness, higher power, dedication, listening determination, bravery, confidence, will-power, surrender, giving, receiving, balance, miracles, integrity or devotion. You could select one of the Yamas, Niyamas or any of the 8 Limbs of Yoga. You could focus on a Chakra, Sutra, or Gita verse. The 5 koshas, kleshas and 5 elements also provide a lot of theme material. As you can see, there are endless choices. In addition to finding short pieces to read or sharing your own reflections, it’s nice to find Sutras or verses from the Gita to connect to a pose within the theme. Another option is simply to speak from the heart about the theme in a pose. Using class themes is also a great way to use some of the history of the asanas. For example, the story behind Hanumanasana (Splits) speaks 3 of bravery and confidence. If our theme was either of these two, while practicing this pose we could share with our students that, just as Hanuman demonstrated bravery and confidence as he lept thousands of miles to save a friend, so we must show bravery and confidence as we attempt this challenging posture, and in our everyday lives – living our yoga off the mat. Using class themes is a great way to help teach your students more than just physical postures and to infuse this into our personal practices. If we teach only the asanas, we are doing a great disservice to our students and ourselves, because without the other 7 limbs, the asanas look more like an exercise class than yoga. Once we know how to use class themes, the challenge becomes finding the time to put everything down on paper so we can refer to it, helping us find organization in our teaching. That’s why we’ve written this collection of yoga class themes. Using these pre-written themes saves you the time of putting pen to paper and it is our hope that it will make your practice more enjoyable and/or your teaching experience even more pleasant. Of course, we encourage you to write your own themes and to modify these themes to fit your own needs. 4 Theme 1: Authenticity First reading: Being true to yourself both on and off the mat is the essence of Yoga. Even though we all wear many masks in one day, there is always a part of ourselves that is constant. See if you can honor yourself by connecting to this authentic part of you. Second reading (early in the class): Depending on what you need, any pose can be Authentic for you today – Child’s pose to find restoration, a Warrior pose to build strength or a Chest Expansion to open your heart to love and acceptance. Ask yourself, “What do I need in my practice today? Can I be Authentic and true to myself, letting go of expectations?” Read in Child’s or other restorative posture: In the third book of the Gita, there is a conversation about being true to ourselves. It states that it is better to fail at our dharma than follow someone else’s – trying to become someone else takes more work and is not authentic to our hearts. If you are unsure if you are being true to yourself, then allow yourself to become quiet and just ask. There will always be a response. Teacher’s note: During any posture, you can talk about how that particular pose may be used to find our authenticity. Here are examples: Pose reading: Let’s search for our true, authentic inner child who wants to find happiness and playfulness in each day. Pose reading: Find our authentic love for ourselves as we open the heart. Pose reading: Let’s find our authentic voices and live from our hearts, knowing we are building strength every day Pose reading: If we are not being true to our hearts, we should seek to forgive ourselves and take action to nurture ourselves, making the changes needed to become our authentic selves on and off the mat. On the mat today, that means no competition, but finding our edge while honoring our bodies. * Dharma - path of righteousness 5 Theme 2: Contentment Opening Comment: Let’s strive to find contentment, both in our practice and in our lives off the mat. Today, we’ll talk about how our yoga practice can help us find this state of happiness. First Reading: Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 17 One who is, however, taking pleasure in the self, who is illuminated in the self, who rejoices in and is satisfied with the self only, is fully satiated--for him there is no duty. In postures that your students may find challenging, such as the splits, crow pose, lifted lotus, handstands, etc., the following are nice readings: Pose reading: Contentment or Santosha is not synonymous with complacency where we accept or tolerate unhealthy situations. Nor does it mean that we allow our growth to lie dormant. But rather it is practicing patience and making the most of our hardships while striving to better them. (Source: Laura Baker - http://exploringyogawithlaura.blogspot.com/2007/11/santosha-contentment.html) Pose reading (maybe such as restorative pigeon or one where we might find some challenge): Wherever we are in this posture, let’s find contentment, practicing Santosha, without the need to be competitive or concerned over how far we go into the pose. Pose reading (again, use this in a pose such as restorative heroes pose, where even the restorative version may be challenging): When we understand that challenges, both on and off the mat, are opportunities for growth, we can more easily find ways to cultivate contentment with the situation. If you’re not where you want to be in this posture, ask yourself why it is so important to you to go further? Is your ego getting involved? If so, let it go and find satisfaction with the process of the posture instead of the end result. Final Reading: “Most of us believe that contentment will come once we achieve something. It could be financial success, finding a companion, having a child, retirement, owning certain material items, reaching a goal, being a certain weight, having a certain status, recognition, etc. Santosha means practicing contentment in all things. It is the active practice of accepting the way things are. Peace cannot rely on ever changing external circumstances, often beyond our control. Santosha encourages us to be satisfied with whatever each day brings, welcoming what we get.” (Elizabeth Beard: http://www.joythruyoga.com/1/post/2013/03/santosha-contentment.html) 6 Theme 3: Gratitude First Reading: “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.” Melody Bettie Second Reading: “In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast Read during any Chest Expansion
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