The Burning Rainbow Forest
The End of my Second Teacher Training
Sunday I finished my second 100 hour teacher training with Ryan Bailey. It was an incredible experience, from start to finish, each day was dynamic and had all kinds of lessons about everything from emotional intelligence, to public speaking skills, to asana practice, anatomy, the hero’s journey, and much more. The name of the training was the Yoga Lab, an idea Ryan had for training people how to teach yoga. The idea was to cover things that aren’t normally taught in teacher trainings, like presentation skills, how to be yourself while teaching, and how to think on your feet. It was more of a life training than a yoga teacher training, and Ryan deserves a ton of credit for what he is creating. Bob Bradley was a part of the training as well and pulled in many of his leadership techniques and skills in lots of situations. The main thing I walked away from the training with is the ability to step into a yoga class and be myself.
This might sound simple, but it’s not. Presenting to people is difficult, having the attention of a group of people is nerve-racking to anyone without experience. Remembering a sequence, keeping calm while inflecting your voice, being present to assist students, and giving personal attention to individuals while controlling the whole group are just a few of the skills you need to be able to bring your self into a yoga room. Ryan’s ability to open us up to being vulnerable and open in our dialogue was incredible; I feel like I am in touch with aspects of myself that I didn’t even know existed. At the end of the training, I told a story that I’ve never told anyone else in my life. The things we learned will stay with me for the rest of my life.
It’s interesting to notice progress. One of the biggest things that we worked on was removing fill words from dialogue. We spent time paying attention and building awareness around words such as: Um, so, like, now, really, and other words that simply fill up space. Silence in a yoga class is important, especially from the teacher’s dialogue. It takes time to let things settle and sink in. This was another huge lesson from the training. I could talk about the individual learnings for hours, but I think the biggest ones were about how to connect with the people who you are teaching. Which is what modern-day yoga is really about.
Every single day was a blast. More fun than I can ever remember having, which is typical with Ryan Bailey. Kyle, Timmy, Jamie, and the rest of the crew also helped to have so much fun the whole time we were there. We did some amazing work to build a team and I think that our entire group is going places. Part of the reason I love working with Ryan is that he is constantly surrounded by amazing people.
Of course there was also some awesome anatomy work, focused on the muscular and skeletal systems, and the philosophy we studied ranged from the Hindu belief systems to the mono-myth. No subject was off-limits and everything was interactive and in close quarters. I would do another in a heartbeat. I am so grateful for being able to have the experience and grow with the people who gave themselves to the training. It was powerful.
I don’t have any future trainings planned, but I will definitely be on the look-out. The more opportunity that I can give myself to grow, the better.
Why Kale is amazing
Kale is fresh and in season because it loves frost and winter’s chill. The plant is used all over the world in various dishes and is noted for its versatility. Kale can even make good chips, though I don’t like them.
Some people really don’t like the taste, but I don’t mind it in salads, or cooked with some light oil. Cooking of course alters the nutrient properties, but there is so much awesome stuff in Kale that you are still getting massive amounts of nutrition.
Here are the nutritional properties of the flower-like veggie, they are pretty incredible:
- Beta Carotine – interesting nutrient, small amounts seem to be really healthy
- Vitamin K – super good for us, from leafy vegetables (photosynthesis), greases the metabolic passageways
- Vitamin C – anti-oxidizer, necessary for metabolic reactions and is a powerful enzymatic enabler
- Calcium – combined with phosphate to form hydroxylapatite is the mineral of our bones. It is also extremely involved in neural functionality, including action potential release in muscles and neurotransmitters. Too much can be bad and is regulated by vitamin D (sun exposure)
- Sulforaphane – has possible anti-cancer properties
- Indole-3-Carbanol – is the subject of on-going Biomedical research into its possible anticarcinogenic,[3] antioxidant, and anti-atherogenic effects. Inverse relationship to prosprate and breast cancer because of increased estrogen regulation.
- Magnesium – essential nutrient for every cell (allows for photosynthesis in plants)
There are also Phosphorus, Potassium, Maganese, and several other trace minerals, including all the electrolytes and Vitamin b6. Kale is basically your multivitamin’s ingredients in raw form, similar to broccoli. Everyone could stand to eat more.
Like anything else, moderation is necessary, so find some balance among other food groups and don’t go kale crazy.
Daily consumption might not be a bad idea, especially for heart and artery health due to its digestive and anti-oxidant properties. Green drinks, Kale/almond ice cream, omelets, find a way to make the taste insignificant. Its always interesting how nutrition inevitably becomes biochemistry.