Day 2 in Dubai was day 1 for the first Yin Yoga Training. The class is full with 20 students, hailing from all over the world. I even learned of a 'new' place ... "Seychelles," apparently near Maldives, which is where one of the students is from. We've also got representatives from Malaysia, Jordan, Beirut, France, Ireland, Sweden, Germany, the UK, Australia ... I am perpetually awed and inspired by the power of Yoga to cross cultural barriers and unite people in the heart.
Most of the participants have only a minor relationship with Yin Yoga, so teaching them is also introducing them. A few have already experienced profound releases of stored emotions, and most of them were absolutely beaming after our first group practice together. I continue to be grateful for the hard work Paul Grilley has done spreading the good Yin Yoga word, as I meet more and more acceptance of the validity of yin yoga and the reality of anatomical difference. For years Paul was like a little salmon swimming upstream, with his ideas continuously rejected by 'conventional wisdom.' In the short 8 years that I've been teaching Yin Yoga, I personally feel so much more acceptance about the practice, that I no longer feel like I need to make each class a 90-minute info-mercial extolling the benefits of passive postures sustained for 5 minute intervals.
One of the students is a long-time Iyengar yoga student, and so the 'lazy' approach is very challenging for her to sink into. I admire her willingness to maintain an open and curious mind as she validates her own experience through the laboratory of her own practice. I suspect that, as a mother of two small children, she will find deep respite and replenishment in the practice of yin yoga, which has the power to build energy and smooth out its pathway.
Training is from 9-6, so it is literally the entire day. We only take an hour lunch break, with another 15 min break in the afternoon, so it is full on. Noura and I got dinner in the Dubai Marina Mall, sitting out on the deck to enjoy our salads on mini-couches at the table. I was slumped over by the end, with very little to say. She was extremely perceptive and accommodating, getting me home straight away.
This morning I'm up at 5 am, sipping on French press coffee after my hot lemon water. My yoga mat is right next to the computer, so after this post I will sink into some Yin Yoga, followed by some vinyasa and meditation.
Four of the students from last year's foundational training are in this yin training, and we are trying to gather the rest of the group for a meal and a few beverages, perhaps Sunday night. There is definitely a feeling of cOMing hOMe being here, which brings me such joy. Dubai for me is not about nightlife or shopping, but instead about working hard and sharing yoga which, I must admit, are so fulfilling and rewarding to me. If I'm to be honest, however, I do need to admit that on this trip I do hope to do at least a little shopping, too!
Most of the participants have only a minor relationship with Yin Yoga, so teaching them is also introducing them. A few have already experienced profound releases of stored emotions, and most of them were absolutely beaming after our first group practice together. I continue to be grateful for the hard work Paul Grilley has done spreading the good Yin Yoga word, as I meet more and more acceptance of the validity of yin yoga and the reality of anatomical difference. For years Paul was like a little salmon swimming upstream, with his ideas continuously rejected by 'conventional wisdom.' In the short 8 years that I've been teaching Yin Yoga, I personally feel so much more acceptance about the practice, that I no longer feel like I need to make each class a 90-minute info-mercial extolling the benefits of passive postures sustained for 5 minute intervals.
One of the students is a long-time Iyengar yoga student, and so the 'lazy' approach is very challenging for her to sink into. I admire her willingness to maintain an open and curious mind as she validates her own experience through the laboratory of her own practice. I suspect that, as a mother of two small children, she will find deep respite and replenishment in the practice of yin yoga, which has the power to build energy and smooth out its pathway.
Training is from 9-6, so it is literally the entire day. We only take an hour lunch break, with another 15 min break in the afternoon, so it is full on. Noura and I got dinner in the Dubai Marina Mall, sitting out on the deck to enjoy our salads on mini-couches at the table. I was slumped over by the end, with very little to say. She was extremely perceptive and accommodating, getting me home straight away.
This morning I'm up at 5 am, sipping on French press coffee after my hot lemon water. My yoga mat is right next to the computer, so after this post I will sink into some Yin Yoga, followed by some vinyasa and meditation.
Four of the students from last year's foundational training are in this yin training, and we are trying to gather the rest of the group for a meal and a few beverages, perhaps Sunday night. There is definitely a feeling of cOMing hOMe being here, which brings me such joy. Dubai for me is not about nightlife or shopping, but instead about working hard and sharing yoga which, I must admit, are so fulfilling and rewarding to me. If I'm to be honest, however, I do need to admit that on this trip I do hope to do at least a little shopping, too!
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