Clouds can be fluffy, white, wispy, or condensed. Many times, they are various shades of grey – light and unthreatening, or dark and foreboding. The edges of clouds are bulbous, not sharp, giving them an appearance of being soft and amorphous, even when they are stormy.
We all know the image of a brain: with the overall shape of a kidney bean, it too is squishy, without sharp edges, a bit more solid than how we think of clouds to be; but like clouds, the brain is also full of liquid and electricity. As children, the way we draw the two is really quite similar. The brain is our own personal grey matter. It is our own cloud.
In a clear sky, a sky without any clouds, we experience the full warmth and enlightenment of Earth’s personal celestial being, the sun. No matter what shade or density, clouds obscure the sun’s rays to some extent. Light fluffy clouds only block some of the sun’s intensity, whereas dark stormy clouds can block the sun’s rays entirely, sometimes even replacing the sun’s fire with the cloud’s own attempts at fire – a simultaneously angrier and sadder version, full of dangerous lightning, and big teardrops of rain.
Do you know the feeling, when you give a class, and suddenly a unique word pops out of your mouth without you ever planning or intending to use it? It could be a metaphor, an image, or even just a surprising verb that sneaks into the sentence from the back door of your consciousness?
Unnata teachers have strong beliefs in what responsibilities we have to our students. As teachers of aerial yoga, we have unique responsibilities that yoga teachers who teach without a hammock do not need to follow, and unique responsibilities to yoga tradition that many aerial yoga teachers are not concerned with.
Can you remember your first yoga class ever? And how maybe it wasn’t at all like you thought it would be? I remember having a preconception that yoga would be easy and peaceful, and I was surprised that my first class was quite challenging both physically and mentally. My beginner’s mind didn’t care that the practice was different than I expected, and a world of possibilities opened up as I realized that there was a whole world I knew nothing about but wanted very much to learn. This was the start of my passion for yoga and even now, years later as my practice continues, it’s always a spark of beginner’s mind that keeps me engaged and wanting to learn more.
Everybody has a unique way of being. A way of talking, a way of walking, a tilt of the head, or a facial expression reveals a thought or emotion. During a conversation, some people are quiet, some constantly interject, some speak at a slow pace, and others barely breathe while talking.
After graduating from the Unnata Aerial Yoga teacher training course, on an annual basis Unnata teachers have the choice to renew their license to teach Unnata Aerial Yoga. The Unnata license is not just calling oneself an “Unnata” aerial yoga teacher, and it’s not simply so that a teacher can keep using the “Unnata” credential medallion, although those are definitely important parts. Maintaining an Unnata license is linked to a membership with an entire community of teachers and of their vast knowledge and various practices that all the Unnata teachers are devoted to developing. Maintaining an Unnata membership is keeping one’s teaching and personal practice relevant and safe, amongst other things.
Rock. Paper. Scissors. Let’s play a simple game that can teach us how to balance the three Ayurvedic doshas (Vata, Pitta, Kapha). But first, what is Ayurveda? And what are the doshas?
