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how do you make your student calm down and listen to their bodies patiently in your yin yoga class?? I mean what you will tell them during the time when they keep still in one post.
Thanks for your question, but I should first say that I don't try to "make" my students calm down. I invite them to do so, but we can't make anyone do anything. There is an old saying, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." And there is even an older saying (which I heard from Joseph Campbell), "You can lead a girl to Vassar, but you can't make her think." Either way, I think it sums up the point.
You can only create the conditions which can lead your students towards calmness, peace, tranquility ... the yin aspects of life. But you can not make them calmer, etc.
How to set the conditions is really the question: And there are many ways to do this. Music is one tool. Some teachers (like Sarah Powers and Paul Grilley) do not use any music while they teach. This means there is no distraction at all during the class. I prefer to use soft music: something soothing that will help to quiet the heart and mind. Certainly, loud music with a strong beat will not help calm the mind.
Staying warm will also help. Make sure the room is warm (not hot) and/or that the students dress warmly. Invite them to wear socks. Being too cold or too hot is distracting. There will be enough distractions due to sensations while in the poses; we don't need more.
Finally, what we say and how we say it can affect the opportunity for calmness greatly. Do you speak in loud, choppy, demanding tones or is your voice clear, calm and soothing? If I have chosen a theme of reflection for the class, I often say much less than I would for other themes (such as education). What I choose to say usually focussing on bringing awareness back to this moment. I will guide the student back and invite her to choose a suitable anchor for her awareness...she can return over and over to her breath, or to listening to sounds or to feeling sensations. It really doesn't matter what anchor she chooses (although different people find it easier with different anchors: some find listening easiest, others feelings are easiest to stick with) as long as she keeps coming back to the present moment.
During the long holds of the postures, I will often let them know that they will drift away. That is okay. The nature of mind is to create thoughts. The practice is actually one of returning to the anchor every time you discover you have gone away. You may want to let them know about other tricks that the mind will play to take them away, especially when the poses get challenging.
Finally, the breath is the most powerful tool. Guide them to allow the breath to become slower and deeper. Don't force it ... allow it. Eventually the breath becomes very quiet and deep and it is then that the mind becomes very still as well.
In addition to my little yang practice, I have been practicing with Bernie's DVD the past few months. Yin has become an important addition to my practice. I am grateful as it is more like my fantasy of yoga before I actually got involved and discovered the predominance of energetic, vinyasa styles which are the only type of classes I have access to locally.
Anyway, Bernie, your DVD is wonderful. Your narration has been a welcome distraction, and the content is interesting and useful in it's own right, and worthy of multiple listenings. However, after three months, it is getting pretty old, and I have begin using music and a timer instead of the DVD. That's fine . . . BUT gawd there there is a LOT of time in those poses, and the full session is more than an hour!!!
. . . And that brings me to my question. I know to pay attention to sensations, follow my breath and bring my thoughts back to it when they wander (which seems like every 5 seconds or so). However, can Bernie or the rest of you guys expand on this theme a little and point to some readings or other sources which get into the subject in more depth? An hour is an hour whether I think about girls or what I am going to have for lunch, or what a pain in the but (hip) dragon is . . . but I would like to make use of that luxury of time to explore the deeper possibilities of yoga.
I am very glad you are enjoying my DVD...but also a little surprised. You see, I haven't created a DVD! (I wonder what you are watching?!) I have done some online classes via MyYogaOnline.com. Maybe you mean Paul Grilley's DVD?
Anyway, your question is still a valid one: what do we do with our mind during the 5 minutes or so we hold each pose?
The deepest practices of yoga are the meditations. Use the time to deepen your meditation practice. There are many great meditation books out there and audio tapes/CDs. There are 3 guided meditations that I offer on MyYogaOnline that you could listen to (visit this web site: http://www.myyogaonline.com/yoga_classes_online_4.html) They are about 15 minutes each.
Another option is to get Sarah Power's Insight Yoga DVD...she comes at the practice from a meditative perspective as well.
As for books: where to start! There are so many books on meditation. You will want to search out the ones on Mindfulness practices (there are many different styles of meditations.) Breath by Breath by Larry Rosenberg is great. You could also try to acquire the kit by Salzberg and Goldstein called Insight Meditation (it contains a CD you can listen to as well as a book.)
Thanks v. much for your response, suggestions and resources. Much appreciated.
As you have (slightly) more hair than Paul Grilley, it is actually quite easy to tell the two of you apart, even at 50 paces! You are correct, I was referring to your download from MyYogaOnline which I have burned to a DVD so that I can watch it on my teevee. I wish you had more available for download. I notice you have another one there with sleeping swan, etc., but they won't let you download it. Especially in Thailand, download is always preferable to the expense and hassle of getting physical DVD's shipped.
I do have Paul's DVD's as well, and they are wonderful, but it was not until I began practicing with your download, that I began to appreciate a lot of Paul's narration.
You are correct, I was referring to your download from MyYogaOnline which I have burned to a DVD so that I can watch it on my teevee. I wish you had more available for download. I notice you have another one there with sleeping swan, etc., but they won't let you download it. Especially in Thailand, download is always preferable to the expense and hassle of getting physical DVD's shipped.