| When teaching students about "living in the moment," | | | | reached this level of awareness since they were |
| where do you begin? When a student has just come | | | | children. Better yet, some students have admitted that |
| into your class from work, he or she may still be | | | | they were living on auto-pilot, until they discovered this |
| stressed out over commuter traffic, deadlines, quotas, | | | | level of mental and physical awareness. |
| or a family crisis. | | | | At this point, some literature about the values of Yama |
| All of the talk about finding pure consciousness "goes | | | | and Niyama will benefit your students. Please consider |
| in one ear and out the other." On top of this, some of | | | | that we have not yet discussed basic meditation or |
| your students are worried about tomorrow. There are | | | | higher levels of meditation. Is a student ready for |
| plenty of reasons for people to worry, with the | | | | meditation, if he or she has not learned to be present |
| present state of relationships, job security, finances, | | | | for the physical practice of Yoga? Truthfully, it is |
| health care, raising children, and more. | | | | doubtful that he or she will be able to relax enough to |
| So, where do you start to explain or demonstrate living | | | | meditate. |
| in the moment? It starts with the very first time your | | | | Beginner Yoga students have to learn to "unplug" from |
| students become present for their practice. The first | | | | the technological world around them, and develop a |
| level of existence, the average Hatha Yoga student | | | | basic level of level of mental and physical awareness, |
| can feel, is the physical body. You will waste your time | | | | before learning to successfully meditate. |
| teaching a student about intuitive enlightenment, until he | | | | There is an old saying: "Never try to teach a pig to |
| or she has made a connection with the physical body. | | | | sing. It wastes your time, and it annoys the pig." Now, I |
| Is Asana the first step? Not exactly, and not according | | | | am not comparing people to pigs, but if a pig mastered |
| to the eight limbs of Yoga, as described by Maharishi | | | | mental and physical awareness, it might be possible for |
| Patanjali. Should we teach our students the values of | | | | him or her to sing next. In other words, there is a time |
| Yama and Niyama first? Sorry, but that will not work in | | | | for everything, in the learning process, but it must |
| Western cultures. | | | | happen in the proper sequence. |
| Asana is part of the answer, but Pranayama (Yogic | | | | If you want to help your students, teach them to be |
| breathing technique), is the key. It is Pranayama, during | | | | present for practice, and teach them how to relax. |
| Asana practice, which joins physical and mental | | | | The higher aspects of Yoga will always be there, but |
| awareness. Some students claim they had not | | | | Pranayama is the first key. |