Look, I’m a very open-minded person. I’m also pretty adventurous, even if I DON’T like roller coasters or camping. If it doesn’t seem dangerous or pointless (or just plain icky) to me, I’m willing to try just about anything.
I went into Yoga National Guard in general with a pretty good attitude, even if the last weekend was a little tough for me motivation-wise (this weekend is another go-around - they’re coming close to each other because of the holidays). While I had a pretty good store of confidence going in - I’ve been teaching yoga for going on seven years now and have done a lot of self-study - I also knew that I had a lot to learn. I signed up for this tour of duty eager to take in new information, to learn new techniques and teaching skills, and to make new contacts.
I AM learning a lot. Before YNG, I’d never touched a yoga student before (we tend to be very hands-off in health clubs, and I’m finding that my participants LOVE being touched - I’ll tell you a story about that later). I’m picking up a lot of practical anatomical knowledge, which is helping me to understand how to better attain my own poses as well as how to teach others to get better results from the work they do. I’m also getting a nice perspective on several different styles of practice. I’m entering poses in new ways, I’m doing kundalini breathing exercises, I’m finding new things to add to my teaching.
What I’m NOT doing is chanting.
I’m sorry - I just CAN’T make that work for me. I’m not putting anyone down for doing it - there are a lot of people in YNG who find it to be very “freeing” and “opening” and a lot of other happy things, but my adjectives are far less positive. When I’m being asked to sit in a circle with my eyes closed and my hands held up “to balance the energy” and sing “hari, hari, hari” with a CD, the words that come to mind are more along the lines of “awkward,” “silly,” and “dumb.”
Not very yogic of me, I know, but what can I tell you?
These words don’t MEAN anything to me, even when I know what the words mean. I’d be much more open to chanting “peace” or “love” or “joy” or pretty much anything - even om - than doing this little campfire routine with the 
Sanskrit. I’m not even going to deny that chanting can feel good - I can set up a really nice vibration in my chest and my head that makes me feel all full of energy and light when I’ve got om going. I have a CD that’s nothing but an hour of Tibetan monks chanting ‘om,’ and it’s beautiful and soothing and almost haunting. I really do get the idea of chanting, but seriously? I feel like I should be in the airport in a turban and a tambourine; that’s how ridiculous I feel chanting some of the stuff David’s given us.
Getting my participants used to the idea of my coming up behind them and leaning on their butts in downward dog is one thing. I might even get them to hum or even ‘om’ - if not in class, then on their own in the car on the way home. I’m pretty sure, though, that there’s no way in hell I’m going to be able to get them to chant “hari, hari, hari.” Part of my personality is that I don’t ask anyone else do anything I’m not willing to do, too, and I really don’t like chanting.
“I really don’t like chanting.”
That’s not true. You just wrote a couple of paragraphs on how you don’t like chanting THIS stuff he’s giving you but you actually do like the vibration you can set up and you would be open to chanting English words.
As you may remember I was/am a drama student for a long time. We don’t call it chanting, we call it warming up. We focus sounds to different resonators in the body (chest, forehead, soft palate etc.) to warm up that part of the body so we have full use of them and therefore a lot more variety in our voices. No one uses words really, it’s humming or ah or ee or something like that. Sometimes this brings up some serious emotion for people. I think there could be some great application for this stuff in your teaching…as long as you take the Sanskrit out of it. I think it’d be fun to show you my vocal warm-up (VERY silly) and see what bits of it cross over.
Kizz, you’re right - I don’t not like chanting - I don’t like chanting Sanskrit.
When Beanie was participating in Local University’s production of A Doll’s House, I remember listening to student actors doing their warm-ups and thinking that it sounded VERY silly. I understand what it’s about and was grown-up enough to no make fun of it, but it’s startling and awkward to be around someone walking around saying “EEEEE-ooooh.”
And what is it about the emotional release? It happens, and it happens a lot. I’m interested to learn more about THAT - how it is that we can flip a trigger and be a blithering mess without knowing how or why we’re doing it…
I could never chant without getting the giggles. So that ruins the effect.
Shoot, I chant all day.
‘Put that dowwwwwn’ ‘Pick that upppppp’
‘Don’t smack your sisterrrrrrr’
Now I just gotta get the yoga thing down.
(serious question: We have no yoga classes available here. Is it dangerous to try to learn beginner’s yoga by yourself with a video tape?)
Seester, you might try just humming - sometime when you’re alone and won’t feel too silly. Really - it does feel good but you’re right; the giggles ruin the effect.
HAHAHA, Contrary! I do that, TOO! Only my usual chants are more along the lines of “clean your roooooommmmmm” and “don’t talk baaaaackkkkk”
As far as the learning yoga on your own, start out by checking out your local PBS listings. Most stations run early morning yoga shows that, if you can’t get up early enough for (*I* certainly don’t) you can at least record to use later. I’d do that for free before I’d recommend a DVD for someone to use. Also, check your local health clubs and the Y - maybe even your town’s recreation department; you’d be surprised where you’d find yoga classes being offered…
Id like to find a Ti - Chi class myself…
Heh. I couldn’t chant either without feeling silly and then giggling, which kind of ruins the effect of peaceful meditation.
The emotional release comes from a physical release of tension. Everybody carries their tension in certain parts of the body. Sometimes there’s a physical reason like you hurt one foot so you’re favoring it and thus keeping it tense which has a ripple effect and sometimes it’s an emotional reason like a fear or anger. “I just kept my mouth shut” isn’t just a figure of speech and sometimes it takes physical effort to keep quiet like we do.
When we warm up (yeah, I know could NOT be sillier and sillier to look at than to hear, too) we’re concentrating on releasing all the tension we’re holding anywhere. The theory is that as an actor you want to be loose and open so all the emotions can flow easily through you. As you get better and better you release on deeper levels. Also when you learn new techniques you can get to a deeper release. Sometimes when you’re surprised into a new release or when something you’re holding in is new or otherwise quite close to the surface and you get rid of the physical tension that’s holding it in then the emotion comes pouring right out. It can be super surprising and unsettling and even off putting for someone who isn’t expecting it.
I had rehearsal yesterday and all through my warm up I was thinking, “Oh it would be so silly to do this in front of someone. But oh, look how much this is like chanting and it’s not so silly, it’s got a really specific physical purpose.”