FYCET: Day 4
Recapping Day 4… first, there is a reason these are called intensives. They really are intense! But there is also a reason it’s called a yoga ceremony — there is that quality of the sacred brought to every moment.
The theme for the am asana practice was feeling for what quality you want to bring into your cell tissue, what do you want to embody? I felt the concept of “joyful strength” just resonate right through me. That sweet spot combination of heart & warrior, play & power. The poses focused on a lot of standing series & twists. I know this was my most physically yummy day of practice, but can’t now remember a lot of the specifics! (Largely because of what went down later that night which made Day 5 a humdinger, but more on that in a paragraph.)
In the afternoon, the teaching session included a few assists, but mostly was spent in another small group teaching practice. For two hours we taught each other an intermediate level class while receiving interactive feedback from Ana or one of her more experienced assistants. It’s worth explaining what this feedback exercise is like, cuz it’s frequently damn fun. 
The purpose is to help people access ways to take their teaching to the next level, whatever that is for them. For example, someone had to teach entirely in song for a while, then go up & down their vocal register to help make the voice a more responsive tool rather than a flatline monotone. Someone else taught a large part of their section while doing a held squat against the wall, mostly to piss her off so she could access more authority. Others had to get off the mat & get their hands on people the whole time to help connect with students. It’s a really worthwhile process, I think, though it can get under the skin of teachers who are very invested in their own approach.
Ana gave us an additional sadhana (spiritual practice) that night as well — not just are we to stay out of self-mutilation & speak our truth, but also to speak about what’s precious to us. Not just the hard or nasty truths, but the sweet, valued treasured truths also.
During the course of my evening Sunday, after the teacher training, I managed to fall on some of the last bits of ice. Landed on my hands & right knee, which meant I went into the final day of FYCET unable to put pressure on that knee or EITHER OF MY HANDS because all three body parts were swollen & bruised & cut up.
Yeah. Will talk about how that went tomorrow, when I recap Day 5. Let’s just say my empathy for & creativity with modifications has gone up another notch!
Tags: Forrest Yoga, Teacher Training, The Forrest Yoga Project