Jivana Heyman 00:00:01
(INTRO) Hi, I'm Jivana Heyman, and my pronouns are he and him. Thank you for joining me for The Teachers Guide To Accessible Yoga Podcast. This is a series of conversations that I had with an incredible group of Yoga teachers, as I was researching my new book, The Teacher's Guide To Accessible Yoga. And I wanted to share these conversations with you in their fullness, rather than just pulling quotes from the book, I want you to get a chance to hear everything these teachers had to say. So I hope you enjoy these conversations. Thanks for being here.
Jivana Heyman 00:00:34
Hey everyone, thanks so much for joining me again. This is actually the last episode in this season, and this series, The Teacher's Guide To Accessible Yoga Podcast. It's been incredible. And I just really want to thank you for listening, whether you've listened to any of them or not, I appreciate you being here today, listening to this. So basically, this you know, this podcast series has been a series of interviews that I did with an incredible group of Yoga teachers as I was doing research for my book, The Teacher's Guide To Accessible Yoga. And this episode, I'm actually recording after the book has come out, and the podcast series is being released already, and I'm getting to see your reactions to the book. And I'm just really touched, that it's helpful and meaningful to so many of you, I've gotten some really, really great feedback. Of course, you know, I didn't cover everything, I probably could have written another 300 pages easy. Teaching is such a complicated and nuanced thing. But overall, I've gotten positive feedback. And I think the book is useful for Yoga teachers, who are really interested in exploring the questions of accessibility and equity in Yoga.
Jivana Heyman 00:02:00
And I thought for today's episode, I could just go a little deeper into some of the areas that are most interesting to me. I wanted to kind of review the book a little bit, and talk about maybe why I wrote it, and what my intentions are, and where to go next. So hopefully, you've read the book. If not, that's okay, too. You can still get it and read it, there's still time. There's always time. This book is really more of a reference than a traditional book, right? It's something that I would hope you can go back to, again, and again, whenever you need it. Say you're teaching and an issue comes up, you're thinking, Oh, how coud I, how could I sequence my classes a little better? You know, how could I offer some new chair versions of poses? How can I teach integrated classes where students are on the mat and the chair at the same time. Any questions like that, I hope that you'll go back to the book to find some answers, some ideas, that I've shared there, based on what I've found over the years.
Jivana Heyman 00:03:06
I mean, I also lead the Accessible Yoga Training, and have been doing that for so long, and in many ways, this book is actually kind of a written version of that training. So if you're someone who can really learn from a book, you could probably read this book and not have to take my whole training, it's pretty much all in here. Or you could always think of this book as kind of a textbook for the training, if you ever want to join me. I'm back to teaching in person. So I offer an online training and also a hybrid where I teach, you know, a portion of the training in person, and then the rest is available with my guest teachers online.
Jivana Heyman 00:03:40
Alright, so I thought I'd go through the book, kind of step by step I wanted to reflect on the way I set it up and why and, again, where I am headed from here. I think my main intention with this book was to simply share everything I could with the world, I'm trying to be generous. And I thought, well, all the material that I cover in my trainings, why don't I just start to share it in books as well and make it available to more people. Especially because I love writing. I think writing is a really incredible practice. So I use it as a practice myself, and it really inspires me, gets me, it helps me to reflect on my own thinking.
Jivana Heyman 00:04:21
So the beginning of the book starts with discussion of teach what you love, you know, kind of questions of why teach Yoga, and what is the purpose of it? And I love that question. And it's something that I kind of go back to over and over for myself. I give a little bit of my story and how my teaching came out of my AIDS activism. And I started teaching because I, I only took Yoga teacher training because I wanted to share Yoga with people with HIV and AIDS. That was my, that was my intention. I was extremely shy and I didn't really want to teach at all, or didn't want to be in front of a group. Like right now being in front of a microphone, is still kind of hard for me, but here I am. And then I looked a little bit in the book, I explore whether Accessible Yoga is a new idea that, you know, the tradition of Yoga includes variation and adaptation at its heart. And I think teachers of Yoga through the ages have wanted to make the teachings available to people, and recognized that everyone's different, and we all need our own individualized approach. And so I actually think there was a, in the past, there was actually a more individualized approach to teaching than we have today. The whole idea of a group Yoga class is really very modern. I don't think that existed more than 100 years ago, maybe in a monastery or something, they might have group meditation, for sure, chanting, maybe asana practice together, but I kind of doubt it. I think the practices were, you know, the teacher would give you your specific practices that you're meant to do. And I went back a little bit longer through history and looked at the use, in particular of Yoga props, especially the Yoga strap, which is something that's been found throughout Yoga history, in sculptures from over 2000 years ago that show Yoga practitioners sitting with a Yoga strap, helping to sit cross legged. And I just think that's really interesting and inspiring, because I still think people consider Accessible Yoga, a modern thing. And for me, it's really just about making the practices available to people. Right? It's just, it's just Yoga.
Jivana Heyman 00:06:43
The other thing that I cover in this chapter is just kind of a general overview of what Accessible Yoga is. And I share, I don't know what I'd call this, kind of the summary or, like, mission of Accessible Yoga. Not exactly a mission statement, but it's more like, guidelines, let's just say. Maybe I'll read that section. This is on page 23. At the bottom of the page, it says, Accessible Yoga is an approach to teaching based on the ideals of inclusivity, diversity and accessibility, rather than a specific style of Yoga. And just as an aside, I just want to say, that's really important to me, I don't think Accessible Yoga is a style of Yoga. Right? Every style of Yoga can and should be accessible. It is defined by these concepts. One, everyone has a right to the teachings and practices of Yoga. Two, each individual is a unique and equal expression of our universal connectedness. Three, service and compassion are Yoga in action. Four, teaching Yoga is a collaborative and creative process. Five, personal growth and transformation require a supportive community.
Jivana Heyman 00:08:06
So in those five points, I kind of tried to summarize most of what Accessible Yoga stands for. And then I went on to talk a bit in this section about impostor syndrome, which is, you know, so interesting. And one of the points I make about that is that, you know, impostor syndrome, often keeps a lot of excellent teachers away from the limelight, you know, away from teaching and away from putting themselves in a position where they will be exposed. At the same time, I think it's a great tool for us to use in our practice to consider, why do we feel like we're imposters? What does that say about ourselves? To use it as a self inquiry practice. To consider deeper questions of who we are. And I still have impostor syndrome. I mean, I don't know everything about Yoga, it's impossible to know. And I think that's okay. I think it actually connects to humility, which is a theme that comes up a little bit later.
Jivana Heyman 00:09:06
In fact, maybe I'll, let's pause with humility. I'll come back to that later. But I want to continue on with chapter two, which is that, These Great Vows: Ethics for Yoga Teachers, and I talk about, you know, the role of ethics in Yoga. There's a beautiful opening quote from Judith Lasater, who's so inspiring and, you know, worked on creating guidelines for, ethical guidelines for Yoga teachers. Decades ago, I think she was probably the first person to do that. And I've always appreciated that about her work. It was at the California Yoga Teachers Association, I believe, that she first created ethical rules and guidelines for teachers. And you know, it's just so important because so much harm and abuse has happened in the Yoga world. I think that this is an essential aspect to, not only to Yoga teaching in general, but to making Yoga accessible, because it's often the abuse and the fear that students have of abuse, that keep people away. You know, I know so many people who don't go to Yoga or don't practice Yoga because it feels culty to them, or it feels dangerous in some way. Or they worry that there's a certain culture that they would have to participate in, kind of a wellness culture or a kind of hippie culture or something that they don't want to be part of. And I think they're often correct, actually, and that they should be concerned because there's a lack of ethics, generally speaking, you know, human, it's human nature, I think, to not always be ethical. But I think in Yoga, it's especially important because the practices are so powerful, you know, spiritual practices, in particular, hold so much potential, and so much power that I think they're, I think that's why they're so often abused. Right? If you look at religion, like abuse in the Catholic Church, for example, which is rampant, right? Abuse in Yoga, it's rampant, it's almost like, it seems to me like it's worse in spiritual communities than in other places. And I'm just making that, from my an observational standpoint, I don't know if that's true, but it just seems like it. And I can only consider it, the only reason I can think of is because these powerful teachings are being used by individuals, as a way of controlling people. And these are transformational tools. I mean, Yoga practices are life changing. They've changed my life. And so many people I know, have been touched by Yoga and have been transformed by it. And I think that's incredible, but also kind of scary. And so we hold in our hands, something so powerful, and so potentially dangerous in the hands of people that misuse it. So that's why I wanted to start the book with ethics, and really ask Yoga teachers, ask you, if you're listening, to reflect on your ethical values, and how you practice ethics in your life. And it's something I have to do you know, sometimes I get lazy or selfish or greedy and like, you know, I think of, I don't know, like, I make mistakes, you know, I mess up and I find myself confusedor things get murky and I have to go back to these teachings over and over again and ask myself, am I practicing Ahimsa, non violence. Satya, truthfulness. Asteya, non stealing. Brahmacharya, continence. And Aparigrahā, non greed.
Jivana Heyman 00:12:51
And I actually in this chapter, let me see if I can find it, I talked about how that could, how those, yeah, here it is, on page 48. How those five ethical values apply for Yoga teachers. Actually starting on 47, page 47? Ahimsa. What happens when a student says you've harmed them in some way? How do you respond? Satya. Are you clear about your policies? And do you stick to them, when under pressure? Asteya. Do you cite your sources and refer out to other professionals when needed? Brahmacharya. Do you have healthy relationship boundaries with your students. Aparigrahā. Do you have expectations around your student's behavior? Are you relying on them for external validation? So I hope those maybe are just a good launching point for you to consider how you apply ethics as a Yoga teacher or therapist.
Jivana Heyman 00:13:50
And then in chapter three, I do a short kind of exploration of Yoga philosophy. This chapter is called Beyond The Eight Limbs of Yoga. I, the reason I titled it, that is because I, I mean, I love when people say, we need to practice all eight limbs of Yoga, you know, and I say this in the book. And I love that when I see it, but I also it makes me a little sad because Yoga is even more than that. You know, the eight limbs are beautiful. Patanjali shares them in chapter two of the Yoga Sutras, Sutra 29, he goes through and lists the eight limbs of Yoga. And it really is kind of a nice summary of his teachings. But there's more. You know, there's more than that. In the world. There's other traditions. There is Jana Yoga traditions you know, self inquiry. And Bhakti Yoga, devotional practice. And Karma Yoga, service. Raja Yoga, which is included maybe in the eight limbs, concentration, ethics and meditation, but in any case, the reason I included it here is to just kind of again, remind teachers of the philosophical foundation of Yoga that we're using today. I reflect on the main texts that we have access to. The Upanishads, and I quote a few of them. The Bhagavad Gita, and the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. And of course, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. As the four texts that I refer to, of course, the Upanishads is more than one text, right? It's a compilation of many, many shorter readings, some longer actually. And then I look at how you can integrate Yoga philosophy into class. And let me see, I wanted to say, out of all of those ideas that I share regarding how to integrate Yoga philosophy into your classes, I would say the number one goes back to this question of ethics, and that is, are you trying your best to live the teachings of Yoga and teaching by example? Because that's the most powerful way to be. The way you handle yourself, the way you respond to challenges, the way you greet people. Your presence, and the way you hold yourself, I think, are all very large part of how you teach Yoga. Right? It's not just what you say. But that's important too.
Jivana Heyman 00:16:15
And then in chapter four, I talk about teaching as a practice, I had a chance to talk to the incredible Michelle Cassandra Johnson. She brought up that question of humility, she, which I mentioned earlier, but I just want to come back to it. So she said that is really the maybe most important characteristic of a Yoga teacher, a space holder, is having humility. And I just really love that it. Humility is something that I think is underrated, in capitalist system, that's not what we're trying to do. We're trying to speak highly of ourselves, sell ourselves, right? Not to be humble. So Yoga teaches the opposite. Yoga is where we get to work on the ego, not destroy the ego, but to try and align our ego with our intention for our practice, and use the ego and mind in service of spirit. And I feel like that's the result of an effective Yoga practice, right? It's an ego that's working in service of spirit.
Jivana Heyman 00:17:26
Okay, and then I get into part two of the book, Teaching Asana and I, of course, could talk about this forever. And this is probably the main thing people think about with my work, which is fine, I love adapting Asana. You know, it starts with a chapter on Power and Consent, we can look at what is our relationship to the student, how do we perceive our role within a classroom setting. That power dynamic between teacher and student is essential to reflect on and consider in terms of making Yoga accessible. I think it's important that we recognize the student's innate agency and power and their wisdom of their body, and their life experience. And even if someone comes to you as a student, it doesn't mean that they don't know anything, or that they don't have anything to share. It's just, they're wanting to grow and learn and explore. And our job is to just help them get in touch with themselves, right, to help create a container that is conducive to their internal work.
Jivana Heyman 00:18:29
And I think we do that through holding a neutral space, where we offer practices and insight, and also, you know, kindness and humor and even love, right, even a loving, kind, warm space that feels, welcoming, so that people want to be there, they feel like they can relax into that place, and then connect deeper with themselves. And that only happens when we are self aware. So I think the point of this section is to be self aware as a Yoga teacher regarding our positionality, socially, right, like what is our, what is our internal power, personally, like our cultural position regarding like our gender, race, sexuality, like, how does that impact the group, right? The language that we use, whether we are conscious about our pronoun usage, naming our own pronouns, but also using pronouns when we speak like literally at that level of subtlety. Do you give instructions like raise your arm, or raise the arm? Like this kind of subtle question I spend some time on in the book because I really want to know, I really want you to think about the impact of your words. Most Yoga teaching does come down to words, even though I talked about how much of it is beyond words. There's a lot that happens with language. And I think consciousness of language, the way we phrase our instruction, whether we use pronouns like that, the tone of the teaching, are we speaking, are we asking questions? Like, please raise your arm, or if it feels good, raise your arm, or simply raise your arm. You know, like which you prefer, and which is most effective for your students? So I explore that a lot.
Jivana Heyman 00:20:30
And then in the next chapter, I talk more generally around accessibility, you know, how do you create accessible spaces, financial accessibility, which I think is never talked about enough, financial ethics, the labeling of classes, affinity classes, you know, like classes that are for specific groups, right, like Yoga for people with MS or Yoga for cancer, and those kinds of classes. Teaching in special locations, like in prison, or schools, and what to think about with that. And then I talk about adapting, making Yoga accessible. And that chapter really does go into things like teaching chair Yoga, and bed Yoga. Here I have in this, this is page 126, I have six tips for moving toward greater accessibility in your Yoga classes. One, focus on universal teachings. Two, keep students safe. Three, adapt practices. Four, provide choices. Five, teach truly mixed-level classes. And six, destigmatize chair Yoga and bed Yoga. I also talk about online teaching here and how it is or isn't accessible. And consider what interoception and proprioception are, right, that idea of connecting inwardly. I also talk about one on one teaching, and consider, again, the benefits and challenges of that. I also talked about sequencing, you know, sequencing is an essential tool for younger teachers, there's so much we can do with the way that we put together our classes. I don't think we think about it enough. Like it feels to me, like most of us are trained to sequence a certain way. Like for me, I was trained in a particular lineage, and, I just couldn't imagine not sequencing the way that I was trained to do. In fact, I was told that the sequence was like almost holy, and couldn't be changed. And it took me years and years to let it go. I still love that sequence that I was trained in, but I think now, I want to understand why. Like what is the benefit of doing it a different way? So I have some general, I don't know, suggestions around sequencing, and accessible Yoga, and I have on page 141, I've talked a bit about what I might build a class on.
Jivana Heyman 00:22:48
So first centering, something like meditation, on feeling gravity in the body, oh, this is a class focused on balance, by the way. So I might start with centering, meditation on feeling gravity in the body. Two warm ups. Warm ups could be an entire class, right? That could be everything. But it could be that you're moving major joints, spend time working with the feet and ankles to prepare for standing balancing poses, even though not everyone will come to standing. So again, preparing for balancing, a class on balance. Three, Asana. This is if you're going to do some more traditional or classic asanas, teach them an integrated practices that can be done simultaneously on the mat and the chair. And then once you've done the asanas, some kind of closing centering, that could include a savasana, it could include pranayama, and also some kind of meditation. So generally speaking, I like to book-end classes, right, so having some centering at the beginning and at the end, and then the movement in the middle. And that centering is really where the Yoga comes in. And I explore that in more detail in this section. I also talk about teaching adults and disabled students, students with larger bodies, teaching older adults. And then the next chapter is specifically on adapting Asana, and there I get to explore questions of working on different layers of the body. So one of the things that I think surprises many people is that sometimes if something is not physically accessible to someone, to a student, you can actually work on a more subtle level to make it accessible. So if someone can't physically move their body or doesn't want to move their body into a certain pose, or position, you could work on the level of the breath and breathe like you're in that pose, or the mind, picture the body in that pose. And that is a more subtle, which actually is more powerful in Yoga. A more subtle way to practice but also more accessible for many people. Or the other way around. Sometimes working on those subtle levels is not accessible, right? Sometimes working with the mind doesn't work if someone has trauma or they have ADHD or they are neurodivergent in some way. In that case, working on breath or working with the physical body, working on the more gross layers can be effective. So this is where I talk about that, the koshas, right, the different layers of being. And I talked about how we can explore every Asana, every practice really, as a spectrum of possibility. So each practice, I perceive to be on a spectrum, right? Rather than thinking of like one form, oh, this is the classical form, or this is the full expression of a pose. I don't really believe in that, I think each practice exists on a spectrum. And people can explore it anywhere they want on that spectrum. And so I explore cobra pose in this section, I think I offered like, let's see 20 different variations of Cobra, just as an example of how we can look at different ways to practice. And then I go through and talk about techniques for adapting Asana, like dissecting the pose into parts. Using props and explore each prop, I explore many props like bolsters and blankets, and blocks and straps and chairs, walls, and mats. I talk about being creative and collaborating, changing the orientation of a pose, making it dynamic, using inner experience, about demonstration in general.
Jivana Heyman 00:26:15
And then tips for Yoga teachers to teach integrated classes where you have some students on the mat and some in a chair at the same class. And that's something I explore in all my trainings. The skill that I teach is prepare separately practice together. Which I can summarize quickly to say what I tend to do is to set up people separately to begin with, this is harder in flowing classes, but it's not impossible. To set up the foundation of the post separately, if you're in a chair versus standing or on the mat. And but then find some common elements that they can then practice together, right. So I say like in the chair, if I'm going to teach tree pose in the chair, you could sit forward, move one leg out to the side, and bring your heel of that leg to the leg of the chair. If you're standing, you can bend that right knee and bring it up onto the inside of the foot onto the inside of the other leg. And then together we can spot with the eyes, find balance, raise the hands up to Anjali mudra at the heart, and breathe together, finding balance there. So there's some element where that's done separately, the foundation, and then there's some part done, done together. I know that's a lot to explain quickly.
Jivana Heyman 00:27:29
I also do talk about adapting vinyasa, because it is possible. And I gave some tips around that. Slowing the flow, is one, and also using a wall. So if someone is practicing, if they're in a vinyasa class, but they needed some adapted forms, you could either have them face the wall and use the wall as the floor. So rather than bringing hands down to the floor, they bring the hands to the wall, which makes it quite a bit easier, or practice in a chair, also facing a wall. That's another way to do it.
Jivana Heyman 00:27:59
And then the next section is teaching subtle practices. And I start with a reflection on trauma sensitive teaching, a great quote and inspiration from Nityda Gessel, who's an amazing teacher. And really look at trauma, the way I've experienced it in my students, and how I can make a space that feels welcoming to them. And then I get chapter 10, teaching savasana and then talk about savasana as not only as death, because it means the corpse pose, but as a place of rebirth. And I think it's such a powerful practice for us. And so challenging. So we can talk about, I talk about that. And it gives some examples of practices to lead. And then teaching pranayama, which is probably my favorite to teach, exploring different aspects of the breath, and a bunch of sample practices there. And then finally, teaching meditation, which again, just offering some kind of inspiration and ideas for you. If you're teaching meditation, sample meditation routine that could help you or your students and then a bunch of again, practice ideas, some meditations that I find more accessible. And I end with an epilogue, a reflection on kind of being an ongoing student. Phew, that was a lot. So thanks for listening to me go on and on about this book. I obviously, I could talk about it forever. And I could talk about teaching forever.
Jivana Heyman 00:29:23
I hope this episode was useful, because I tried to kind of review the entire book here, briefly. Again, that kind of an overarching theme is remaining a student, even though you're a teacher, which is something that I'm always trying to do, and reflecting on our role in the classroom, and how we can shift our relationship with our students. Anyway, I really hope and pray that the book is useful and supports you on your journey and in your teaching. And I thank you again, not only for listening, but if you're a Yoga teacher or Yoga therapist, I just want to thank you for sharing the teachings, for being of service to the world. and helping to be a spark in this, you know, kind of explosion of awareness that I think we're seeing in the world and I pray we see more, an explosion of self awareness and of kindness and Ahimsa, right, of self love and community love that Yoga inspires. Anyway, thanks again for being here. I really, really appreciate it. Okay, bye for now.
Jivana Heyman 00:30:26
(OUTRO) Thanks again for being here. I really appreciate your support. And I hope you'll consider getting my book The Teacher's Guide To Accessible Yoga. It's available wherever you buy books. My hope is that the book will provide additional support for you in your teaching journey. You know, for me, I always need to have a community of teachers around me to learn from, to inspire me, to keep me in check. And I hope we can do that for each other. So thanks again for being here. All right, take care. Bye
