In this new pandemic world we are living in my yoga teacher training (which concluded this summer) has been a life line. Breathing, moving, staying in my body are all my essential self-care practices.
One of my yoga goals from the start is sharing this resource, this life-line, with my community, and particularly Spanish speaking working class folks (people like my parents and abuelos) who wouldn't have access otherwise. I took my connections to the promotores de salud community and created a series of classes in Spanish that started 3 weeks ago.
What a joy. My students are primarily completely new to yoga, which feels like a big responsibility. They identified their needs in a survey, where I learned that stress reduction, sleep, improving balance and exercise are their goals.
What I've tried so far:
- The space orientation from "My Grandmother's hands" that I find a great way to open a class and get folks in their space and body straight away. I wish this book was translated into Spanish!!!
- Yoga nidra is my go to for sleep issues, and I pulled together a yoga nidra script from different sources and translated into Spanish. I tried it for the first time last week, and they loved it!!
- I keep to the same basic sequence, which is a solid trauma informed practice, where repetition creates a container of safety. I tweak a bit and have a different theme each week. The sequence and themes reflect their survey input.
