Yoga-Map: a Creative Tool for the Mat

Transcription

1 1 Yoga-Map: a Creative Tool for the Mat Anne de Kemmeter In-Depth Foundations

2 2 Introduction YOGA-MAP : a Creative Tool for the Mat Which yoga teacher does not feel lost in the making of a consistent yoga class? By this I mean a class that suits the needs and levels of the students while also containing the basic components of a yoga class (centering, warming up, peak pose, cooling down and final rest). For many it remains a challenge to translate several ideas in a fruitful session. The key challenges being weaving the abovementioned elements together with a theme and the interests of the yoga teacher him/herself. As I had been struggling with loose index cards blown over while unfolding a blanket, with notes unreadable without glasses, with directions as flat as googlemaps and lifeless sketches, I suddenly remembered how I was using mind-maps in my other activities such as chairing group discussions and note-taking. I will first present what I call the yoga-map and what it brings to my way of teaching. In the second part I will suggest a link with the yogic teachings of nonpossessiveness (aparigraha) and that of making an offering as noted in the Bhagavad Gita. The spirit in which I intend to give my yoga classes and to live my yoga practice will follow. I. YOGA-MAP In the beginning was the mind-map Tony Buzan claims to be the inventor of mind-mapping, one of the most powerful thinking tools of our time. A mind-map is an overview of a topic, a question, an issue, a process made by drawing instead of writing, with colour and creativity. It provides a global view that the brain catches and memorizes easily. It goes from simple to complex, can be applied to any kind of field, and is easy to develop. As a graphic representation a mind-map is a language intended to the eye. The eye perception consists of three dimensions : 1. Intensity, 2. Positioning in x axis and 3. Positioning in y axis. This perception is thus spatial and atemporal. This is very different from simple writing and reading which are linear and temporal.

3 3 The use of images communicates faster a larger quantity of informations. Images also allow three levels of reading: a reading of clusters, a reading of elements and a mix of both clusters and elements. From linear thought to divergent thought: there is a jump into another logic. These types of visual representations can be called bio-tools because they mirror the natural way the brain functions to reason, to comprehend, to communicate and to learn. I should actually write brains as in this process both parts of the human brain are involved and with mind-mapping the connections are faster between our left and right brains. As a reminder: left brain is for reasoning, logic, linear, analysis, management, figures, details; right brain is for imagination, creativity, global, faces, colours, images, decisions, intuition, humour, symbols. From mind-map to yoga-map After some struggling to find a convenient way to prepare and give my yoga classes, I made the connection with mind-maps I used in other contexts. Yes! Let s try with yoga! I created and gradually developed a new tool for yoga teachers: the yoga-map. What is it exactly? What makes it such a powerful tool for me as a yoga teacher? As mind-maps offer a large load of information and a spatial stability, the yogamap provides me with my whole class on one sheet of paper. As a means of locating/tracking where one is as well as a support for memorization, I can visualize my plan at a glance. A yoga-map will bring a gain in time and efficiency. The shape of the yoga-map refers to how the human brain works. Both sides of the brain are active in the making and in the seeing/using of the map. As it directly reflects how the brain works, the brain makes the connections faster and takes the decisions more efficiently. In addition, it gives me the flexibility to add or suppress any pose sequence when I need to and go on with my teaching while keeping the overall stability and balance of my plan. In concrete terms, these are the advantages the yoga-map brings to me as a teacher: an overview of a class plan at a glance; it allows me to manage the time and the pace of the class; flexibility, easy adjustment to the configuration of the class by adding, modifying, or skipping some poses according the level of the yogis or any contingencies; visual and colourful overview reminding me of what comes next;

4 4 a mirror of my own brain: the process of drawing a class reflects my way of thinking. During the class, it reactivates and translates the creation process and what my focus is; a fun and creative process that will open new avenues and ways of teaching; it organizes my thoughts and stimulates connections in my brain; a dynamic tool vs a static and dull to-do list to write and to linearly follow. Ever since I have been working this way, I keep my confidence and stay on the right track whatever happens during my class. This enables me to welcome any question or need with an open and peaceful mind. Ultimately my students benefit also from this tool. They feel safer as they realise I take care of them with flexibility but without loosing the leadership of the class. How to make a yoga-map? - To create a yoga-map, you need a sheet of paper, a bunch of colour markers, and your creativity. This one wakes up in the making if you think your creativity is low. - Place your sheet of paper in a landscape orientation. - Draw or write the focus of your yoga class in the center of the sheet. Example: discovering yoga, shoulders and neck, hips, meditation, balance, opening - From there draw branches, each of which getting a key image or idea. Smaller branches and twigs will follow with their own images. Example: 1st level branch: standing pose 2nd level branch: tadasana 3rd level branch: some instructions or variations. - Use colours! Colours are exciting for the brain and bring the energy of life in your map. Make your own code of colour for the different sequences of your yoga class. Example: orange for warming up, red for peak, green for cooling down, purple for savasana. See yoga-map Discover Yoga on page 5. - Another way of doing could be to assign a colour for each type of asanas. Example: brown for supine poses, green for hands and knees poses, red for standing, orange for backbends, blue for seated pose, purple for restorative See yoga-map Building Balance on page 6 and Lower Back on page 7. - Draw small figures or write words or mix both drawings and words. Be sure to know that an image is worth hundreds of words. - Make a branch for each step of the class. Curves are encouraged because more attractive to the brain. Our gray matter is made of curves and sinuous connections. There is an isomorphism between the brain structure and the map structure that has them interact smoothly. Both, brain and map, also work by associations that make the connections faster. - My level 1 class is about 8 to 10 branches with as many ramifications as needed.

5 My yoga-maps read counterclockwise and start at 11:00. 5

6 Use of abbreviations: BR 3-5 means Breathe 3 to 5 times; DYN for Dynamic; L/R for Left and Right side; TW for toward; IN for Inhale; EX for Exhale; W for Warrior 6

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8 8 II. Aparigraha and Offering Yoga-map and yamas In this second part I will expand on the spirit in which I implement my concept of yoga-map. In order to do this I will offer unpretentiously and with my continous intention of growing two links with the yoga scriptures. Aparigraha and offering animate my positioning as a yoga teacher. Aparigraha Nicholai Bachman, in The Sutras Workbook (p.114), defines aparigraha as follow: (it) is the yama of not being possessive Non-possessiveness of the heart-mind means not regarding ideas as our own. Whenever we come up with something that appears to be new and original, it is important to realize that we are just tapping into knowledge that already exists, represented by Isvara. Our ego loves to hold on to things and to call them its own. This is my intention as I share the yoga-map with the yoga community. With my yoga-map I am coming up with something that appears to be new. Yet I want to keep in mind that I am just tapping into knowledge that already exists. The yoga-map is actually not mine. I am a channel through which creativity and energy pass to the benefit of others. Furthermore the yoga-map unveils several options both during the conception and the teaching of a class. So while I am working on my next class, I am also able not to grasp onto any particular version of it. As I am giving the class, I have options to respond to what happens as I go. I have experienced that when I teach the same class twice or more, what happens on the mats is different, depending on which students are present, what their level is and how they feel on that particular day and time. This is flexibility at its best. Offering Most of my students are expatriates and new to yoga. They attend whenever it is possible. Their lives are complex enough and over the years when I have been organising other activities, I have learned to accept their (non)-participation and limitations with equanimity. It is the same with yoga. As my investment in yoga and my commitment to my class are deep, I have been tempted to expect the same kind of attitudes from my students. If my class is a priority in my week, why not in theirs? How come they do not yet realize all the benefits of yoga? I want them to progress and some seem to forget everything from one week to the other Stop! I have learned not to expect anything. If for my students yoga is one activity among others, it is their choice. If progress seems slow, it is their pace. If they come over, they are

9 9 welcome, if they don t, no hard feelings. They are free. I respect their choices, their pace and their uniqueness. They are as they are. Now everything is fine with me. I offer a space and time for yoga as a kind of hospitality. They appreciate my availability and the complete absence of pressure. I feel more comfortable and relaxed too. The words of Krishna to Arjuna comfort me in this attitude: You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work. You should never engage in action for the sake of reward, nor should you long for inaction. Perform work in this world, Arjuna, as a man established with himself without selfish attachments, and alike in success and defeat. For yoga is perfect evenness of mind. Bhagavad Gita (2:47-48) Krishna further declares: Whatever you do, make it an offering to me. Bhagavad Gita (9:27). For me these words are a call to give up selfishness in thought, word and action. Concerning my yoga class in particular I am invited not to hold to the result of what I teach. When Krishna tells Arjuna to renounce the fruits of action, it means for me that I have the right to action but not to the fruits of action. I feel called upon to act as rightly as I possibly can, but without any power to dictate what is to come of what I do. However renunciation of results is not indifference to what happens. Do and give your best to every undertaking is my motto. The outcome does not belong to me. This attitude aims at staying free from whatever comes, success or failure, praise or blame, victory or defeat (Eknath Easwaran) and keeps me at my own place. Conclusion I have demonstrated that yoga-map is a powerful tool to yoga teaching which has the colour of life, the energy of yoga. It made my life as a yoga teacher a lot easier, inspiring and richer. My students get a class more adjusted to their pace, needs and level. However for me this tool only makes sense coupled with an intention inspired by tradition and personnel reflexion. The two notions I have introduced at this point are steps within a mental discipline that I try to live by. I reassess my state of mind day after day in an ongoing non-linear process. Back to yoga-map

10 10 Gratitudes I would like to express my deep gratitude to each and every person who supported me ever since I started practicing yoga. To Cedric who sent me to my first yoga class ten years ago and who encouraged me to deepen my practice and to participate in the Foundations training. To my main teachers who made me discover so much and whose cues I still have in mind: Christiane Godin in Belgium, Barbara Sroka in Rye (NY), Vicki Christian in Fairfax (VA). To the teachers and master teachers of the Sun and Moon Studio In-Depth Foundations teacher training program, their dedication to the growth of us trainees was amazing! To the teachers whose class I observed and who patiently answered my questions, Deb Hertz and Carol Confino. I owe you a lot! To my co-trainees who were my first students during our exercices and for the numerous informal exchanges we had about yoga. To my current students from all over the world, for their trust and their questions that keep me going. I ll close with a very special thank you to alex Levin who regularly reached out to me as a generous mentor with a sharp mind and outstanding listening skills. Bibliography Bachman Nicholai, The Yoga Sutras Workbook, Sounds True, Boulder CO Buzan Tony with Buzan Barry, The Mind Map Book, PLUME published by Penguin, USA, Delengaigne Xavier, Mongin Pierre, Boostez votre efficacité avec Freemind, Groupe Eyrolles, Durand Daniel, La systémique, Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, Easwaran Eknath, The Bhagavad-Gita, Introduction and translated by-, Nilgiri Press, Canada, Second edition, Seventh Printing Satchidananda Swami, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Translation and Commentary by-, Integral Yoga Publications, Buckingham VA, Revised edition 2012, Second printing Anne de Kemmeter, Bethesda MD, June 2016