Basic Forrest Teaching Expectations
As I go to classes at Hopeful New Home Studio, it’s hard to turn off “teacher self” off while being “student self.” And I’ve stopped fighting it, cuz the whole reason I go to classes is to learn on all levels. Good, bad or indifferent, there’s something to learn. (And if the class is bad, or unsafe, or both, you CAN just walk out, btw. More on that another day.)
Forrest teacher training incorporates a lot of practice teaching & a lot of feedback. Particular emphasis is put on a couple of things that I consider signatures of a Forrest teacher:
- You’re expected to set & carry a theme as well as an intelligently planned sequence with breathwork, warm up, evolution to a peak pose or two, warm down, then yummy savasana. The theme might be a particular area of the body that needs healing/exploration, it might be taking pleasure in your practice, or letting go of an issue or stuck energy. Key for the theme is that it be concrete, visceral, something that can be felt – no imaginary rainbows allowed!
- While doing this, you don’t just loll or wander around– you also demo, adjust, provide personal attention & conduct the seventeen-ringed circus which is a yoga class. It’s more like teaching kindergarten than ya might think. : ) A good teacher can be simultaneously cueing the sequence, adjusting one person physically, keeping an eye on and providing verbal adjustments by name to two or three others, all while doing enough yoga along with the class to keep warm enough to demo the peak pose.
- That mellow, spacey, monotone, “yoga teacher” voice is RIGHT OUT. Forrest is taught really speaking to what’s going on in the room, authentically, lots of variation in tone & volume & use of voice as a tool to integrate what’s happening in the theme/pose/curtail any general mischief that may be occuring. : )
- Repeat words (we all have them — some word you say over & over for the day or the week or lifetime) are also VERBOTEN. (Note clever use of German to sub for repeating “right out.” : ) So is slang, though the occasional well-placed cuss is allowed for emphasis/humor with the right crowd.
Those are just some of the things I look for when taking class. Everyone I’ve been to this week has been articulate, competent, accomplished & a couple have really struck my fancy with their vibes. I’m still looking to sort through the teachers that are good sources of solid, comfortable classes to clean up technique & the ones that will take me to new places… both good things.
Good news also is that today was a delightfully mundane day. Hour of home practice, 2 hr lovely Forrest class with the theme of self-care, then plain ole normal every day, non-moving-related chores. Who knew laundry could be so comforting?? 