Through practical, fun, common sense tutorials, Rachel supports yoga teachers to develop their craft and hone their yoga teaching skills. She also combines her academic expertise in instructional design with over 15 years of experience as a yoga teacher trainer to help studios and trainers develop excellent in person and online trainings and education.
Yoga teacher, trainer, author, and ally (not to mention wicked video drinker!), she exuberantly shared what she knows with clarity, energy, and humour. 💗💗💗 www.rachelyoga.com
Disclaimer: Yoga is a physical practice and can cause injury. Not all movements/exercises presented here will be suitable for everyone and in no way constitute medical advice. The practitioner assumes all liability for injury, and understands that they practice solely at their own risk.
Ahhh thank you! Honestly left feeling inspired and releived! I dont have to have it all figured out! Discovering your nich or brand kind of reminds me of this urge we all have to know exactly what our purpose is in life... I read somewhere in a book recently that our purpose is reavealed or uncovered to us through our journey or the path we choose... its sort of like an evolution of self... so this reminds me of this... I loveed it thank u... ❤
Awesome Syl - that's great. I love this: our purpose is revealed or uncovered to us through our journey." YES! And sometimes when I've tried too hard to know exactly how it's going to go, I have missed the surprise of seeing what life can bring :)
Ok, so as promised I did Eagle Pose story mode (Both Legs 2 videos) added to my RU-vid page can you please view and let me know what you think of it?😁😄 Thank You!
Nicely done Sobik! Great stamina and I feel like you've got a really nice even backbend through your whole spine. Now, there are different schools of though on the hip position. We tend to externally rotate the hip (turn the feet out) when we engage the glutes. I have mixed feelings on this, but as a next step, you could look at cultivating neutral feet/legs. (Don't turn out your feet when you lift up). The trick here is to keep the glutes engaged AND engage the adductors (inner thighs) for hugging in....The leg lift will evolve as you open the hamstrings more ~ Well done!
Great explanation Rachel. Thank you for sharing it. I have a question: during asana practice should I hold Mula Bandha during inhalation and exhalation? I mean, let’s say in tadasana, do I inhale and activate Mula Bandha and then exhale and relax, OR do I activate Mula Bandha the whole time during the posture?
Great question Rob - so, traditionally in ashtanga: yes. You would engage mula bandha the whole time. BUT think of the engagement like a flow of water from a faucet (rather than an on/off switch): sometimes the water pressure creates a trickle and sometimes you turn the water pressure way up - it depends on the demands of the pose. Crow will require more than baddha konasana. However, my personal preference is to not always be engaging mula bandha, particularly in more restful and opening postures (think happy baby), and particularly during the inhale, where the pelvic floor naturally relaxes. Ultimately, we want to to have a range of options available to us, and the pelvic floor needs to learn to relax and open as much as it needs to learn to be toned and lifted. So I'm a little more fluid with it during parts of the practice and make sure at some point to encourage space and relaxation ~
@@RachelScottYoga very interesting answer. Specially the part where you say that during inhalation the pelvic floor tend to relax. For many years I thought it was the opposite. Same thing happens with the diaphragm. It goes down when the inhalation causes the chest to go up and viceversa. But idk, correct me if I’m wrong. Also I’ve been trying to engage mula Bandha for lifting things off the floor or even just for getting up, and it feels way more stable, specially for the lumbar. It’s amazing. Anyway, thank you very much for taking the time to answer my question. 🙏❤️
@@MovimientoconRob HI Rob! The respiratory diaphragm contracts in the inhale and descends, mirroring the pelvic floor which (can) relax on the inhale as the abdominal and pelvic contents are moved down the by diaphragm. On the exhale, the respiratory diaphragm relaxes up, the pelvic abdominal contents ascend, the pelvic floor naturally lifts (it can also be lifted "manually" if you will by muscular engagement). All these things can happen differentially depending on which muscles are engaged. If you engage the abdominal musculature and brace the viscera, the diaphragm does not descend so much as lift the ribs. In asthanga, when mula bandha and ujjayi are both practiced, the breath is a "chest breath" since the "core" tends to be bracing the pelvic and abdominal contents. So, ujjayi is actually a rib breath rather than a "full breath" that moves moves the abdominal contents. It's great that you're working with MB to find more stability ~ my ashtanga teacher would maintain that mula bandha isn't just about the pelvic floor, but also corresponds to the activation of the deep abdominal core (transversus abdominis), which is a great support for lumbar stability :)
@@RachelScottYoga thx. Thats why it’s easier (at least for me) to engage MB after the exhalation. The same as when I practice Uddiyana Bandha that it’s done also after the inhalation.
Hi Rachel. I find lateral flexion of the spine whilst in a hip flexor stretch (i.e. low lunge with a side bend) will get a bit deeper into those pesky hip flexors ;)
from my experience Pantanjalis instructions must be based in samadhi having already been established PRIOR to all of the mental activity he is calling for . The mind has no ability to reveal that which it appears inside of as consciousness awake to itself , so he must be basing his instructions on a background of fully established Samadhi . This becomes apparent later on in the book where he discusses super normal powers or Sidhis. performing sidhis involves subtle conscious thinking while in samadhi . Thinking the sutra must not in any way disturb the transcendental state . if it does then samadhi is not well established and one must return to stabilizing it before continuing with the sidhis . It seems as though the translators of Patanjalis sutras missed the necessity of effortlessness in meditation in the beginning of the book and instead promotes effort to achieve that which is in effortless alertness with itself . Effort or thinking cannot create its opposite , just as war does not create peace but rather the absence of conflict . Real peace exists as a self sustaining state regardless of external circumstance Likewise effort in meditation cannot create non effort .Real effortlessness is the same self sustaining state that is peace . to achieve effortlessness in meditation one must make use of something that is common to all and exhibiting the quality of effortlessness . Oddly enough it is thinking itself which is an effortless process . One can and does use directed effort in thinking but the fundamental quality of thinking is effortlessness . just close the eyes and notice that thought will appear without effort . in mantra meditation we can make use of effortlessness in thinking by tossing the mantra into the already existing stream of effortless thinking and then let it go . a gap will appear in between awareness of the mantra and undirected random thought . in this gap transcendence is revealed . this is a simplistic overview of the process and i won't go further as it requires one on one guidance due to the tendency to introduce effort in the thinking process . What i am saying may be in contrast to the comments thread so i will cease posting if you advise me to do so . i do not want to create any confusion with your students .
Hallo! Thank you for posting and sharing ~ you are very welcome to share your experience here! I am not a Sanskrit scholar so I can't say if translators missed introducing a reference to effortlessness, or if Patanjali himself did not speak to that quality directly. The sutras are (obviously) very concise and leave a lot of room for skilled teachers and practitioners to interpret them in different beneficial ways.
Thanks for allowing me to post on your channel . i suspect that the emphasis on effort in revealing Samadhi by the translator must have to do with the translation itself . As you know translations can be very confusing at times and i believe that many of these ancients texts suffer from the same dilemma . Those that have had either repeated or only one experience of Smadhi would all agree that it is effortlessness itself . So it makes sense to me that any effort involved in realizing that which is effortless , Samadhi would be counter productive . It's almost as if patanjali was speaking in a time period long before the written word where transcendental consciousness /Samadhi was the norm of the collective peoples of that time . But we know that to not be true according to the general consensus of when his sutras were written . i honestly don't know but something seems to be missing in the translation,,,,, Or ?
Om is really Aum . it represents the first expressed value of the relative field when consciousness /Being becomes manifest . The A sound in a name and form language such as Sanskrit creates movement within the stillness of being . The second movement is the O sound which represents the continuation of the initial opening . the M sound represents the closing as the lips close bring the sound back to silence . As to it being used as a mantra , the first and most important thing is to NEVER entertain the meaning . Any meaning given to the sound immediately throws it into contemplation . Contemplation creates /IS a subtle activity in the mind which creates an obstacle to transcending . When Mantras are used there must be no meaning ,contemplation or concentration / repetition of the practice as that would nullify any ability of the system to transcend its own activity which is necessary for the direct experience of pure consciousness or that which is free from fluctuation . Also it might be good to know that Aum is a recluse mantra and is not suitable for a householder .
I am opening up a CBD Yoga studio. I'm having a lot of trouble finding yoga instructors to come aboard. I'm offering $40 a class. Am I not offering enough money? I'm starting to get really worried I'm not going to find instructors to make the grand opening in a few weeks. Also regarding the downtime between classes. should I be paying them for that time? Any advice would be helpful since I'm just a business owner and not a yoga instructor, thank you so much.
Hi Kimberly ~ $40 is decent pay for a newer yoga teachers - depending on where you live. Where are you? How are you finding teachers or what marketing strategies are you using to find them?
Awwwww, thank you Marie-Luise! I love the face to face :) If you can tolerate the zooming, I do run some CE offerings online, and the 300 hour only requires a 6-day visit to the San Fran area😄💗
I really appreciate how at the end of each of your videos you do a quick recap/review to highlight the important points you’ve covered. Thank you so very much, Rachel!
your videos are so educational! i’ve been watching them between teaching, to continue my studies. a lot of topics and phrases are something i can use immediately in class and students understand it so well thanks to your clear guidance!
Thank you so much for these and your others , I can listen to you talk simply about complex stuff all day long . I’m not forgetting the little hamster analogies ever .. they’re going in my RS note book 🧘♀️👌🏼
Thank you for video. I have question for you Rachel what is sequence of poses ? I am a bit confused. All your video is really helping me and preparing me for my next yoga teacher training which I will start soon.
Hi Adriana! Sequencing is how you put poses in order for the class and would include the poses that you choose, how you transition between them and what order you put them in :) Does that answer?
Hallo Kristina ~ I appreciate your desire to get folks to the heart of the matter and save people time! 😄 For those who have the extra five minutes, I include the purpose of postures (and surya in general) as knowing the purpose of the sequence gives more intentionality and specificity to the adaptations.
I am 81 and still teaching yoga. I have taken many anatomy classes in my life. I only wish I had your class many years ago. It is the best I have had because your presentation makes the anatomy make sense in real life movements. You also give ways to remember the information and then most importantly how to use it. I am enjoying every one of your presentations. Thank you for providing this important information.
Wow, thank you so much! I am delighted that these videos have been of good use. Thank YOU for inspiring us all to keep practicing and teaching our yoga as a lifelong journey ~ you are an inspiration to me! Happy to connect with you here💜
This was great content, I learned a lot! Thanks so much for sharing and being so passionate about the topic! I hope I can get into a better mind to body connection with this new knowledge you laid on me! 🙏🏻
Eagle pose is tricky! Bone length difference can be a real factor. The big point of eagle (in my opinion) is to really get the sense of hugging the legs together while not tweaking your knees - and hugging the arms. You don't have to "get" the full pose and fully twist it all up if that doesn't work for your proportions.
i watch this every year, thank you! this year i noticed the orange yoga blocks holding the projector....lol i LOVE it. makes me smile! they fix everything
