by regular columnist Elissa Jordan, Adventures in Teaching I’m feeling utterly dejected this morning. Getting out of bed - struggle. Getting to work - struggle. Talking to people - struggle. What’s got me so down? While teaching last night one of my students remarked about what a difference there was between the Wednesday and Monday night classes. Wednesday, my class, on the night was six people. Monday, another teacher’s class, was overflowing. No real judgement was made - good or bad - … [Read more...]
About Elissa Jordan
How to deliver consistent care as a covering yoga teacher
by regular columnist Elissa Jordan, Adventures in Teaching I was covering a class last week for a very popular Wellington based teacher. She had given me a set sequence to follow and wished me luck. Turns out I would need a small smattering of that luck. I sat myself behind the desk, ready to check clients in as they arrived. All was going well until a very flustered lady came rushing in. She stopped short: ‘Where’s Nicole*?’ I explained that she was away on holiday. Whose going to be … [Read more...]
Leave your assumptions at the door and open to your full potential
by regular columnist Elissa Jordan, Adventures in Teaching I live in Brooklyn, Wellington. If you’re not familiar with Wellington, Brooklyn is at the top of a hill. A very long, steep hill. To cycle from work to home is just over 3km. Brooklyn hill makes up about 1.5km of uphill climb. It’s a monster. Why am I telling you all this? Because when I first moved to Wellington I spent weeks telling myself I couldn’t cycle up that hill. Finally one day I decided to give it a go. I got about a … [Read more...]
How to get the most out of any yoga teacher training – ask questions!
by Elissa Jordan Adventures in Teaching Revised 2021 by editor Veronica King I’ve had the same conversation a countless number of times since I started training to be a yoga teacher - a conversation about continuity in access to a skilled senior teacher. Traditionally yoga was taught over many years from a guru to a student. This student would often live in their guru’s home and what was given to them for a practice was never once questioned. Times have changed and in this busy world people … [Read more...]
Managing fear when teaching yoga
by Elissa Jordan, Adventures in Teaching Am I good enough? Can I do this? No matter who you are or what you’re trying to do, questions like these can creep up from time to time. And the more aligned you are to your true purpose, the louder these questions can be. Why is that? Well, being true to yourself is kind of a big deal. What happens if you blow it? What happens if the one thing you want more than anything else in this life all goes to shit? These doubts and questions and … [Read more...]
How to find the purpose in your teaching
by regular columnist Elissa Jordan, Adventures in Teaching Once upon a time there was a young yoga teacher who spent her days cleaning the windowsill in her acharya’s home, up on a ladder, terrified of heights, scrubbing away. The other students of this one acharya were packed off to teaching assignments, but our young yoga teacher was made to wait. As days became weeks and weeks became months, our young yoga teacher waited patiently, perched upon her ladder, for her big day to … [Read more...]
How to answer: what exactly is the energy body?
by guest author Elissa Jordan It started with a story about a mouse in a toaster. Our second weekend in Nelson, as part of the Advanced Yoga Teacher Training with Jenifer Parker of Wellington’s Healium, focused on the energy body. Looking back over my notes from the weekend I see the conversation ebb and flow as only appropriate for a weekend focusing on energy. The movement of stories rode one energetic wave after the next - starting with that mouse in a toaster, and moving to a … [Read more...]
Who knew? There isn’t just one right way to do things. Even in Yoga.
by regular columnist Elissa Jordan, Adventures in Teaching One of my Dad’s favourite stories to tell about me as a little girl is the one about my favourite word: why? I carried the word with me everywhere until it was a scraggly, worn-out dirt-encrusted version of itself. There’s some discrepancy as to whether or not this was, in fact, my first word. Dad says yes. Mom thinks it was second, after no. Either way, right from the start I’ve wanted to know the why behind things. Not one to be … [Read more...]
Is your yoga fashion destroying the planet?
by guest author Elissa Jordan in honour of Blog Action Day 2010 | Water Blog Action Day is an annual event held every October 15 that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking a global discussion and driving collective action. Everything you do in this life carries with it a weight. The food you eat, the transportation you choose, how well you remember to turn off the lights and even what's in your wardrobe. These are the … [Read more...]
How to learn from the goals we don’t achieve
by guest author Elissa Jordan Seems I don’t trust myself. I’ve recently committed myself to a 30-day sadhana or committed practice through 30 days of yoga. And as a result I’ve not gone anywhere near my yoga mat for days. Every morning I wake up and I have a talk with myself about how today is going to be different. Today I’m going to get up early. Today I’m going to respect my commitment. Today I’m going to practice yoga. And then the excuses start - too tired, too stressed, too … [Read more...]