Creating An Extraordinary Yoga Class Experience

In October of 2019, I attended the Baptiste Power Yoga Instructor Credential Course held at Practice Yoga in Naples, Florida. I had the pleasure of spending the weekend with 31 other Baptiste yogis as we learned how to create an extraordinary (yoga) classroom experience.

Luca Richards was our program facilitator and this is my takeaway from the weekend program. I'm phrasing my writing in the terms of "I" rather than "you".

The degree to which I will be able to connect with my students is proportional to my ability to stay out of my head and come from the awareness that all humans are intrinsically connected and have the same basic needs. Connecting to other people does not come from my thinking. It comes from being present to the other person and listening to understand. Connecting happens outside of me. It happens out there, where the other people are. My awareness of the relatedness I have with people is happening wherever I am, not just when I'm in a yoga studio. Each interaction I have is an opportunity to connect, cultivate a relationship or observe our relatedness.

The concept of "bridges and pathways" was discussed. The example of a bridge was that if I can get my students to understand that the body alignment of heels up and over toes is applicable in crescent lunge, fish, high plank, low plank then I have accomplished something very powerful. A pathway is a new future, not built on the past or my expectations or how I showed up or how other people showed up. A pathway could be workshopping a pose in a new way with props that allows for play and space for what is possible.

As part of this program, I've been asked to teach all 11 sequences and all of the poses inside those sequences. It was explained to us that something gets created and generated by me teaching the sequence and my level of commitment to leading Journey Into Power as it is written. In each of the 11 sequences, each pose has a peak and is made of a beginning, middle and end. The sequence also represents a whole range of motion for the body. The practice of Journey Into Power can be scaled up or down as needed. The scaling is done by adding or subtracting intensity, range of motion or the length of time for practice.

Instructing an effective class begins by me bringing the practice alive in peoples bodies and minds. The level of power I have in the classroom is dictated by how much time it takes me to transform intention into reality in the student's experience in real time. When the intention of each sequence of Journey Into Power is realized, the yogi is left in a renewed experience of power, vitality and freedom.

Class begins by me acknowledging the participants for being there¹, who they are for me², who I am for them³ and what we will be up to on the mat today⁴. An example of this could look like: "Thank you all for making time for yourselves and coming to your mat today¹. You are an inspiration to me by simply showing up². I will be your accountability partner today³ as we focus on core engagement throughout this next 60 minutes of Journey Into Power⁴."

Timing of the Journey Into Power sequence was discussed as we worked through each of the 11 sequences. The key for the Integration sequence was for me to get the students moving. Once I get the physicalness of the practice implanted, what starts to happen is that I'm allowing for the students to have the experience of their practice, an experience of their self. This is an important point so I will restate it another way. The student's experience on their mat is of their self, not of me. Their most powerful experience will be in their body in their practice, not in what I say,  who I quote or what song I might play.

For reference, here is the chart showing the timing for a 60, 75 and 90 minute Journey Into Power class. I also blogged about this timing and a chart that several other yoga teachers have used to guide their teaching.

Journey Into Power Timing	60	75	90
INTEGRATION	2	2	2
AWAKENING	8	10	12
VITALITY	5	8	10
EQUANIMITY	5	5	8
GROUNDING	5	8	8
IGNITING	8	8	10
STABILITY	3	5	5
OPENING	8	8	10
RELEASE	5	5	5
REJUVENATION	5	8	10
DEEP REST	6	8	10

Right away I saw how I'd been been leading less effective classes by putting my focus onto what I was saying that I hoped was powerful or insightful. I'd been spending too much time speaking during Integration. By trying to have a unique file name when I uploaded the class recording, (I often record my classes and post them online) I was putting the focus on me and what I wanted from the class. I now number each Journey Into Power class sequentially (rather than have an preconceived idea for a class title before class starts). This frees me up to teach from the Baptiste methodology and speak to what is happening in the room in real time.

The best headband for hot yoga

This is not a paid advertisement, I just love Manda Bees headbands. If you're like me, the wispy hairs that don't stay put when you're sweating your face off in a hot yoga class drive you absolutely crazy when you're trying to keep your drishti on point and stay cool in the face of a long Warrior Two hold.

I've purchased a few different colors/styles of Manda bees headbands and they're all super cute, stay put and do not pull your hair or give you a headache. They're 100% what they say. No rolling up, no slipping, no pulling and no headaches. It just stays put!

If you've been using those strips of elastic to hold your hair wisps back - switch up your hair management to something that supports a small business entrepreneur and lets you choose from basically a thousand colors and patterns. Everything from basic antimicrobial black to rainbow mermaid scales and they even make extra wide headbands if that's your jam.

40 Days To Personal Revolution

I'm currently enrolled in an online 40 Days To Personal Revolution facilitator training. As part of the 40 Days program, participants are provided recordings to practice yoga at home if they cannot make it to the studio and recordings to use for the meditation practice of the program.

I recorded these meditations to align with the themes of the 40 Days To Personal Revolution and I hope that they will be of use to others who are leading or participating in a 40 Days program.

40 Days To Personal Revolution Week 1 Presence
40 Days To Personal Revolution Week 2 Vitality
40 Days To Personal Revolution Week 3 Equanimity
40 Days To Personal Revolution Week 4 Restoration
40 Days To Personal Revolution Week 5 Centering
40 Days To Personal Revolution Week 6 Triumph

These are also on my YouTube page as well as in all the places you find podcasts online.


As part of the facilitator training, watching these video segments were part of our homework:

• Simon Sinek | Start With Why -- How Great Leaders Inspire Action
• Julian Treasure: How to Speak so People Will Listen
• William Wry: Power of Listening
• Brene Brown: The Power of Vulnerability
• Rebecca Kleinberger - Why you don't like the sound of your own voice
• Amy Cuddy - Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are
• Celeste Headlee - 10 ways to have a better conversation
• Meditate to Marianne Williamson - Our Deepest Fear

Inspired Signage - Baptiste Power Yoga

Some months ago I came across this post on Facebook about the artwork of Scott Froschauer. I got inspired based upon the artwork of his I saw and made some stickers via Sticker Mule which have a decidedly Baptiste Yoga spin on them. Some of them are pictured above, the best of them I've uploaded to Flickr as PNG files so that you can use them as you see fit.



I also uploaded the other Baptiste Yoga artwork I've made into this Flickr photo album. Click through to see all of the images in each of these Flickr albums!

Baptiste Journey Into Power Yoga Sequence Timing With Clock Face Chart

75 Minute Journey Into Power

90 Minute Journey Into Power

Blank Clock Face 60 Minute Journey Into Power on Clock Face

Now with YouTube video showing how it can look if you print these images on transparency film!

Journey Into Power Timing	45	60	75	90
INTEGRATION	2	2	2	2
AWAKENING	6	8	10	12
VITALITY	4	5	8	10
EQUANIMITY	4	5	5	8
GROUNDING	4	5	8	8
IGNITING	6	8	8	10
STABILITY	2	3	5	5
OPENING	4	8	8	10
RELEASE	4	5	5	5
REJUVENATION	4	5	8	10
DEEP REST	5	6	8	10

-updated Nov 2019 after attending the weekend course: Baptiste Power Yoga Teacher Course.

Using A Wired Headset With A Mic To Record Your Teaching

This is a follow up to my original "How To Record Yourself Teaching Yoga" post, now with another (probably simpler) way to record the audio of you teaching. In my first post, I briefly touched on using an older Apple or Android device to record the audio of your teaching by using a wired headset. You probably have a few wired headsets from previous phones you've bought over the years, you just need to make sure your headset has a microphone in it.


 Newer phones now require adapters to use 3.5mm wired headsets because they've stopped putting headphone jacks into phones. Which adapter you need depends on what kind of phone you have.

For this example, I'm using an old pair of Apple headphones which also have a microphone. I taped the wire from the mic to the earbud back onto itself to make it neater. The earbuds still work so I didn't want to cut them off of the headset wire. If the earbuds didn't work anymore, I could cut them off so the microphone would be the only part of the headset wires I'd use.


I slipped a tiny binder clip over the microphone wires so I could clip the mic to my shirt.


You could any number of things to keep the mic secured to your shirt. Safety pin, duct tape, gaffers tape, a clothespin - basically anything you've got on hand to keep the mic securely fastened to your neckline so your recording won't be muffled by your clothing.

Apple devices have the Voice Memos application already installed by default. I downloaded and installed a free Voice Recorder application on the Motorola Android device I used in this example.

The device you're using to record your audio should be put into Airplane mode, have the screen locked and then you can tuck it inside the waistband of your leggings or pocket of your shorts while you're recording your teaching. The device you use to record your teaching audio cannot be the same device you're using to play music into the studio (if you teach with music) because it is not possible to stream bluetooth music from a device and record an audio input to the same device at the same time. You probably have an older phone you're not using which can be repurposed into a voice recorder.

Here are the steps you can use on an Apple device to use the Voice Memos application to record your teaching, save the file, export the file off your phone so that you can share the recording with other people. I find it easiest to use Dropbox to save files from my devices, but there are many options (Google drive, AirDrop). I would caution against trying to send your recording via Mail or Message because the file size of your recording may be larger than what is supported by Message or Mail.


Here are the steps with an Android device as an example:


Once you have the audio recording copied onto your laptop or PC, you can refer to my post on "How To Edit Your Yoga Teaching Audio File" so that it will be ready for sharing with others.

If you are interested in sharing your audio recordings as a podcast, here is a post I wrote "Sharing Yoga Teaching Audio Recordings As Podcasts". If you're not interested in paying for your audio to be hosted/shared as a podcast, you can always upload your recordings to Mixcloud like Will Martin is doing.

Creating a Yoga Teacher Resume

Where to begin? There are lots of articles giving advice on what to put on your teaching resume, but not that many free tools to help format your data. This website was okay, but I didn't really like the look of any of their formatting examples. I liked the examples listed in this post, but the two templates shown didn't really grab me.
I liked the way this resume looked, but all I could find was an image of it on Pinterest. I used the formatting layout shown in the image to write my resume, tweaked the formatting a bit, and then I converted the Word document into a template that you can use to write your resume (assuming you also like the formatting of the resume as much as I did).

Yoga Teacher Resume Template MS Word

I put a couple of image placeholders in the template. If you have a logo, use it, otherwise just delete that image from the header of the document. If you have any problems using this template, reach out to me and I'll be glad to try and help you.

The AuraCamera 6000 System

I love this quote by Arthur C. Clarke and it is especially fitting for this blog post.

This post has been a long time coming. I first came across the AuraCamera 6000 System at the Tampa Body Mind Spirit Expo in 2017. Its construction looks like something made for the military industrial complex:  machined aluminum parts, big and boxy. The Internet tells me it was hand built and invented by Guy Coggins back in the 1970s. Clearly visible is the back of a Polaroid EE100 Special Land Camera which is the camera part of the AuraCamera 6000 System. I recognized it because I own the very same Polaroid camera. The subject of the aura photograph sits on a folding chair and places each of their hands on hand shaped metallic sensors. Their photograph is taken and the colors which appear around their head in the photograph are purported by the photographer to be the subject's aura and have great meaning.

Knowing that auras are pseudoscientific in nature, and therefore not actually a real thing, I got curious about the inner workings of the AuraCamera 6000 System, what methods it used to flood the portraits with colored light and how much money did this setup cost. I've seen Polaroid EE100 Special cameras sell for as little as $10 on Ebay and I started to wonder what kind of Hackaday.io project could be launched to crowdsource a DIY version of the AuraCamera 6000 System. But I digress...

The website that has the AuraPhoto 6000 System for sale doesn't have a lot of technical information on how the camera photographs a person's aura, but I think their initial disclaimer is pretty clear: "This page is written according to people’s belief in metaphysics." Read: The rest of what you read here will assume you believe in auras and pseudoscience. The technical information they do include is limited to this:

"...measures readings from a hands sensor and exposes those readings as an aura representation to film instant film photograph."

"Our aura reading machine uses a hand sensor, as seen to the image to the right. A person would put their left (or right) hand onto the hand sensors. This, in turn, would allow a particular product to measure physiological parameters. The hand sensor itself has various contact points on them designed to maximize reading accuracy. The hand sensor is also sensitive to deviations in temperature, humidity, and static electricity in the environment and the person..." 

"These data parameters are then projected as a radiant, colored aura field around the body" 

"In short, these kinds of technology can measure physical readings from a person’s hand. The aura camera or video device can then display this information as a colorful field around your body. The colors represent our interpretation of your spiritual and auric state."

I emailed AuraPhoto to inquire about the cost of an AuraPhoto 6000 System. They replied back with this screen capture which shows the list price of the Aura Camera as $15,698. I was told via email that the hand sensors measure "bio feedback items are heartbeat, temperature, measuring the galvanic skin response in the electoral dermal layer. Other proprietary measurements are used that are not shared." (There is no such thing as an 'electoral' dermal layer. Human skin has three layers: epidermis, dermis and subcutaneous).


Setting aside the fact that auras (colors emanating from/surrounding human beings) don't exist and as a result, can't be photographed let's focus on the cost of this camera, the film (it's not cheap) and how long it would take to turn a profit if one were to "invest" in this popular trickery. Handily, AuraPhoto has an Aura Camera Profitability Guide where the cost of each picture is set at $25. They list the cost of piece of film in the film pack as $1.30 which is basically a quarter of what the film costs nowadays.

Fuji is no longer making the FP-100C color peel-apart instant film as of 2016, and stock is limited where you can find it, and prices are climbing. The average cost of film is $48 for a pack of 10 exposures. Each photo costs $4.80 in film alone. The only way to get fresh Type 100C film is to have backed the One Instant Kickstarter which is pricing a 6 pack of film at a staggering $62.55 per pack (that's $10.42 per photo for those keeping track at home). Heaven knows how much it will cost when the product is launched outside of Kickstarter (if that ever happens).

Let's look at the Return On Investment (ROI) calculations on the AuraCamera 6000, using outdated Fuji Type100C film, just for giggles. AuraPhoto's profitability guide looks pretty good until you start factoring in the cost of the camera, expo booth rental and electricity fees, not to mention airfare, hotel and other travel costs. Let's leave out the travel costs and focus on the booth, electricity, camera and film costs to keep it simple.

You'd need to take/sell 450 photographs priced at $35 each, not including the cost of the film ($4.80 a photograph) to pay for the camera. To achieve a break even cost on the camera, one would have to purchase $2,152 in film. That's another 61 aura portraits to pay for the film. Now let's take into consideration the cost of the booth at the Expo fair.

• Booth Rental $650.00
• Electricity hookup for booth (directional lighting needed on photo subjects) $100
  
• $35 per photo
• Pictures need to take = 19
• Cost of film to take 19 pictures = $89

The AuraCamera 6000 System won't turn a profit until the photographer passes the ~500 photo mark, and even then, the cost of traveling to the expo(s) and repeated booth rental costs keep moving the needle on profitability of the camera system. The only place I can think of where having an AuraCamera 6000 System could pay for itself fairly quickly would be the lobby of the Cassadega Hotel. Captive audience, high probability of target demographic foot traffic (believers in paranormal/pseudoscience).

I'm not the first person to write about what a sham the AuraCamera 6000 is. In the manufacturer's own words, the camera doesn't actually photograph a person's aura (which isn't even possible because it doesn't exist). I'm choosing instead to address the steep cost of the unit and the uphill battle to achieve a return on one's investment, given that the camera costs nearly $16K and film is starting to cost $5 a print (if you can find deadstock Fuji Type 100C) and may soon cost $10 per photo for One Instant film.

Does this mean that the next time you have an aura portrait taken, the cost will increase to $45 or $50 (to keep the photographer in the black)? Will anyone pay that price? Could we soon find AuraCamera 6000 Systems turning up on eBay? My guess is yes, because we've seen projects like this pop up in recent years. Another question I keep asking myself is - does the photographer believe they're actually photographing a person's aura, or are they telling themselves that they're taking part in a harmless, capatalistic business venture?

If you're still hungry for more scientific studies into auras, many people have already written about that here, here and here.

Sharing, Not Selling

[Body Mind Spirit Expo Tampa June 2019]

This weekend, I did the unthinkable. I bought a booth at the Body Mind Spirit Expo (BMSE) in Tampa and didn't sell anything.

The first time I attended the BMSE, I left feeling frustrated. I thought there should be more people at the event talking about things that will link the body with the mind that don't involve buying anything.

I found a lot of market vendors selling products which were not backed by any semblance of scientific research. The majority of the vendors are selling products which can be described as pseudoscientific at best and dangerous quackery at worst. The exceptions are the booths selling honey, rocks and medical grade ionizer air purifiers.

The second time I attended the BMSE, it was to do reconnaissance on the space, the size of the booths, the general layout of the venue, and to see if anything had changed since the first time I attended. Nope, same vendors, same snake oil.

You must be the change you wish to see, so I plunked down $295 to buy a 6x8 booth in the cheapest section of the expo center (where the psychics and tarot card readers typically are). The purchase of the booth granted me an hour long speaking slot and I chose the topic of "The Science Behind Yoga and Meditation". I gathered up scientific research papers on the documented health benefits of meditation and yoga, as observed in clinical environments and put my slide deck together.

The Science Behind Yoga and Meditation
Slide deck on Slideshare.net http://bit.ly/BMSE_slides

Reference cases:

• Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation – Psychosomatic Medicine 65:564-570 (2003)
• How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective – Association For Psychological Science (2011)
• The Effects of Mindfulness Meditation Training on Multitasking in a High Stress Informative Environment. -  Graphics Interface (2012)
• Harvard 8 Week Meditation Study at Massachusetts General Hospital
• Pranayam: Yoga Breathing Practices Modulate the Mind-Body Connection -  Freund Publishing House
• Twelve-Minute Daily Yoga Regimen Reverses Osteoporotic Bone Loss
• Exploring the therapeutic effects of yoga and its ability to increase quality of life
  

My presentation, uploaded to YouTube:


It was an interesting experiment to be able to look people in the eye, shake their hand and tell them I had nothing to sell them. I spoke to people about where I teach yoga, where I practice yoga, yoga studios that were close to where they live that I'd recommend (shout out to Warrior One Dunedin, Inside Out Yoga Winter Haven and Lotus Pond), the stack of books I'm excited about, and a few people even took me up on my offer to get on my BMAT Strong and feel the difference between it and the mat you buy from Target. I told people about Baptiste Yoga, why I love it and what it has done for me. I told people about Tribe Seminole Heights, the Community Meditation class I hold there, and the impact they're having in the neighborhood. I also brought my second-hand copy of The Baron Baptiste Yoga Bootcamp Box Set to show to people who had a home practice and were wanting more guidance. I told some other people who hadn't yet developed a home practice that they should check out Yoga With Adriene on YouTube.

I told everyone who was yoga curious about Brené Brown and her Netflix special "The Call To Courage" that they should check out!


Books I recommended:
Perfectly Imperfect - Baron Baptiste
40 Days To A Personal Revolution - Baron Baptiste
Being of Power - Baron Baptiste
Journey To The Heart - Melodie Beattie
Braving The Wilderness - Brené Brown
Nonviolent Communication - Marshall Rosenberg
Exploring Positive Psychology - Erik M. Gregory and Pamela B. Rutledge
Flourish - Martin E.P. Seligman

I gave away a bunch of magnetic cable organizers, You Are Beautiful stickers, stainless steel water bottles (thanks Cisco!), laptop webcam covers and ♥ several ♥ hugs ♥.


My dear friend Laryssa (Journey Into Bliss Yoga) joined me in the booth both days and she shared her love of Ecstatic Dance and handed out flyers for her next Ecstatic Dance date at Factory114!


I met a lot of great people and gave away a lot of information that I'm passionate about and hopefully made a difference by bringing my authentic self to the expo space.

Bringing All Of Yourself To Your Teaching

Recently a friend of mine attended a yoga class where the teacher said "Yoga is 3 parts, asana, meditation and inquiry. If you are not doing all 3 you are just working out."

I wholeheartedly agree with this. In fact, these are the practices & techniques of Baptiste Yoga.


These three tenets are present in every Baptiste Program I've attended. Baron says if a teacher is hiding something from his/her students - they can smell the inauthenticity. Inauthenticity can show up as the teacher pretending to be the "perfect yogi", always striving to say the exactly correct thing, speaking with a "yogic" sing-song intonation because that's what they think their students want to hear or a teacher who does yoga with the class from their mat. News flash: if you're teaching from your mat by doing the yoga - you're not connecting with your students. You can't see them and they can't see you.

When a yoga teacher brings their whole self (the good, the bad, the messy, the silly) to their teaching - it is immediately apparent and allows the students to connect with the teacher through the practice on a whole new level.

When you go to an eight day Baptiste Program like Level One, Two or Three - it is a full immersion in the practices of asana, meditation and inquiry. Throughout the course of the eight days you will experience new insights into you, your behavior, your thoughts and experience new breakthroughs in new ways of being. The time away from the regular routine of life allows for deeper exploration of self, removed from the day-to-day distractions of "getting things done". Being surrounded by 150+ other people who are also in the work of inquiry is extremely helpful when you need to talk about what you're experiencing. The other person is right there in the work with you and is ready to share from their experience of what is happening in the moment.

Outside of attending a Baptiste Program, there are many tools available to do this work of inquiry. It can come in the form of books, meetup groups or card games!

• Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg - audio book 
• Being of Power by Baron Baptiste - daily meditation excerpt by Carolyn Snow 
• Flourishing by Dr. Martin Seligman
• SuperBetter by Jane McGonigal
• Braving The Wilderness by Brené Brown

• Asking for and put into action feedback on your teaching in the form of:
• Keep (what's working)
• Stop  (what's not working)
• Start  (what's missing)

• Cards for Connection - this card deck can help stimulate meaningful conversations with others. 
• 36 Questions designed to establish a deep and meaningful connection with another person.
• Authentic Relating Communities - there may be one in your home town! (Here's an article on what AR is from The Atlantic in 2017)

I highly recommend asking for and putting into practice feedback other yoga teachers in your community. Look for those people who will give you honest, constructive feedback and not just tell you that everything you do is amazing.

The Five Pillars of Baptiste Yoga

The foundation of any solid structure begins with small, simple structures and builds upon them.

The first pillar of Baptiste yoga is DRISHTI.

Drishti is Sanskrit for sight. Where you rest your gaze can shift your balance. When you are focused on where you're gazing, all the distractions around you drop away and you become unmessable with. Set your sight on what you want to have happen and be for it. Seeing your future with your mind's eye is the first step to bringing that future into reality.

The second pillar of Baptiste yoga is UJJAYI.

Ujjayi is Sanskrit for breath. It is described as ocean breath, victorious breath or even Darth Vader breath (because that's also what he sounds like when he's breathing). It is done by inhaling through your nose and slightly constricting the back of your throat as you exhale through your nose. This audible breath allows your mind to quiet as you focus your attention on hearing the sound of your own breath. Yoga with Adrienne has a great video demonstrating ujjayi breathing.

Fun fact: Ujjayi breathing increases the levels of nitric oxide in your noses and sinuses. Higher nitric oxide levels, the less inflammation in your nasal cavity. This means fewer headaches, allergies, and colds. Another way to increase the level of nitric oxide in your sinuses is humming!

Bandhas is Sanskrit for body locks. Body locks refer to the areas of the body where we can pull in, or hug in the body to engage muscle energy. In Baptiste Yoga, this is often referred to as "Core, Hands and Feet". 

The Bandhas:

• Hasta Bandha, contraction of the hands - pulling energy up into the body
• Pada Bandha, contraction of the feet - pulling energy up into the body
• Mula Bandha, contraction of the perineum - similar to stopping the flow of urine
• Uddiyana bandha, contraction of the abdomen into the rib cage - pulling the belly button into the spine
• Jalandhara Bandha, tucking the chin close to the chest - lengthens the back of the neck.

Tapas is derived from the root Sanskrit verb 'tap' which means 'to burn'. Baptiste Yoga is practiced in a heated room (90F/32.2C) to bring about tapas. The heat helps to melt away layers of resistance and get you out of your comfort zone. As your sweat becomes something you notice, the opportunity arises to use it as a way to stay centered and present in the moment. The skills you cultivate in your yoga practice help you to stay patient and present when your life heats up off the mat.

Vinyasa is derived from the Sanskrit term nyasa, which means "to place," and the prefix vi, "in a special way". Often Vinyasa is used as a shorthand reference to moving through the following poses: Chaturanga > Upward Facing Dog > Downward Facing Dog. Vinyasa is also the flow we move through as we make our way through the Journey Into Power sequence on our mats. We flow (vinyasa) and are also intentional about creating the physical foundation of the pose from one pose to the next.