Here in the northeast it is the beginning of June, meaning we are getting towards those warmer days of spring and closer to the hotter days of summer. Pretty much all places have some sort of seasonal change whether that be a change in precipitation, temperature, or types of plants which bloom and spread, meaning when it gets to summertime there are certain things we should be aware of when planning, teaching, and taking classes. This article will go over 5 things to remember for your summertime classes.

1. The Heat

Let’s address the first thing that you may think of when you think of summer: an increase in temperature. Some places may get hot, humid, or the dreaded combo (dreaded at least in my opinion)…hot AND humid. From a physiological standpoint, the heat causes your body to work harder to cool itself down in hot temperatures. This means more energy, which could lead to quick fatigue. For those that live in environments that experience drastic changes in temperature and humidity through the seasons, like myself…we need to allow time for our systems to adjust. Let’s look at an example: On an intensity scale of 1-10 if you are teaching a class that is a level 6 in the fall or winter, that same exact class could feel like an 8 in the summer. This is not to say that you should never teach a higher intensity class in the summer, but I am suggesting that you pay close attention to the transition between spring and summer temps. Try to make decisions for the level of intensity that will allow success for your students.

2. The Sweat

Summer is *generally* more hot and more humid. This usually means more sweat. Sweat is great! It is the body’s way of releasing heat to cool itself down. Think of a pot of water…adding heat will eventually cause that water to boil and that will eventually cause steam to be released. Movement for the body is the same. When we begin to move, we begin to increase energy which creates heat. Heat eventually has to be released and that’s when sweat occurs. When temps are hot and humidity is high, sweat generally tends to occur in higher amounts. As we know, when we sweat we lose water and electrolytes so it’s of course important to replace those things. Water intake is always important, but of particular importance when it’s hot. Be sure to hydrate before and after the Yoga class that you’re taking OR teaching! You might also consider adding salt and lemon to your water to increase the mineral content of your H20.

3. Like Increases Like

This is the Ayurveda golden rule! Like increases like, opposites create balance. If you are teaching on a wildly hot day and you decide to teach a wildly intense class that creates a lot of heat in the room, your students *could* leave feeling fatigued, wired, or un-grounded. That being said, you may decide to teach a “cooling” class when the temps are raging. This does not mean your class has to be slow paced or that your Savasana has to be half the class (although it could). Instead, think of working towards positions that dissipate heat and that spread the body out. Think about the differences between crow and camel. It’s not that we ever want to feel bogged down in any pose, but on a hot day it could be wise to work towards a pose where the intention is to open up and expand as oppose to contract and pull in. Backbends and side body openers are great options to sequence towards, but keep in mind these types of poses tend to be energy increasing. That is to say, don’t leave out the twists, forward folds, and inversions but maybe don’t spend your entire time there.

4. People will leave…but they will come back.

Summer tends to be a time when people travel. Kids are off from school, people have summer Fridays, and there just seem to be more events taking place. I generally always see a dip in attendance during the summertime. It’s not that every class has super low attendance, but the regulars that you see consistently during the other seasons may be absent more than normal during this time of the year. That is completely normal – especially in an urban area! Should this happen to you, know that your people will return. Continue to teach your amazing classes no matter how many people are in the room. And in fact, you may use summer as a way to try some new things out. You might feel better trying new poses or new transitions with potentially less people and more space in the room.

5. Enjoy YOUR summer too!

This profession and this practice never ends. It continues on regardless of the day and season, which is great to have the opportunity to consistently work on your craft. But do remember that YOU also have a summer! Be sure to check in with yourself and make sure that you are also enjoying your summertime. The last thing you want is to resent your job for not taking time off to travel or enjoy the time and weather. Take your vacation and/or your trips without feeling guilty BUT do make sure your subs are in place. No matter where you are jet setting to, your job as a Yoga instructor should always be a priority. Ensure that you have coverage before taking off on any trips (I always triple check) and try to connect with the Instructor who is covering beforehand if there’s anything you need to notify them of (like if they need to open the studio). If you feel like you may be subbing out a class on a very consistent basis…you may consider asking the studio owner if you can do a long term sub or you may even consider giving the class to someone who has the time to teach the class. This isn’t a bad thing. You need to live your life the way you want to live it and if that means giving up a class, just choose to trust that another one will open up.

– This post was written by handstand extraordinaire, Melanie Rodriguez

Check out Melanie’s course on mastering a handstand: Journey to Handstand

This weeks class theme is Svadhyaya, the “Study of Oneself.” ?

Svadhyaya is one of the 5 Niyamas of the 8 Yoga Limbs Of Yoga. This Sanskrit word pronounced, swaad-yai-ya, translates to self-study and focuses on maintaining continuous study of ourselves. As we move through different yoga and meditation practices, we may often find ourselves coming to a realization that our significance and recognition of self is probably the most important aspect of our spiritual journey. There can be so many distractions in the world and even during our yoga practices. It can seem cumbersome to try and drown that noise out or even take some time in the day to genuinely just focus on not thinking. As we uncover more things about ourselves we have never known before , we can put our minds at peace. There are so many different methods of uncovering ourselves and getting to know our truest selves.

A couple of modalities that seem to be pretty popular today are:

• Practicing yoga
• Meditating daily
• Journaling
• Reciting daily affirmations
• Finding a religious practice
• Utilizing podcasts and books about topics of personal interest or inquiry

The peak pose this week is Salamba Sarvangasana (Shoulder Stand)

We will move towards Salamba Sarvangasana by practicing three warm-up poses. We chose Shoulder Stand as the pose this week because it really allows you to face yourself and rely on major limbs of your body. The three warmup poses are all poses that allow you to sit with yourself and recognize where your strengths and weaknesses lie. As we mentioned, when facing one’s self, it’s important to embrace all parts of that journey, including anything that may seem difficult or troubling (like a new yoga pose).

Legs at the wall (Viparita Karani)

How to:

1. Lay on your back with your feet facing the wall.
2. Move your hips as close to the wall as they can go while walking your legs up the wall.
3. Stretch your legs out straight as far as they can go (that’s comfortable for you) until you make an L shape.
4. Breathe into your body, making sure you are comfortable as you rest again the wall.

Bridge pose (Setu Bandha)

How to:

1. Lie on your back with your arms by your sides and with your palms face down on the mat.
2. Bend your knees and bring the backs of the heels closer to your sit bones. Align your knees with your ankles.
3. Keep the feet relatively hip distance apart and press into your feet.
4. Engage the core muscles and begin to lift the hips up towards the sky.
5. Keep your neck elongated with your chin slightly tucked in towards your chest.
6. Stay in the pose for several breaths before slowly releasing your hips back down to the mat.

Locust pose (Salabhasana)

How to:

1. Begin lying on your belly with your head rested on the mat. Allow your legs to be about hip distance apart. 
2. Bring your arms so that they are lying by your sides with your palms face up. 
3. Engage your legs and begin to lift them up. 
4. Begin to raise your chest and arms up. 
5. Your pelvis and belly should remain rooted to the mat. 
6. Keep your spine long and broaden across your shoulder blades.
7. Keep your head and neck relaxed and allow your gaze to remain down towards the mat.
8. Hold for several breaths.

Salamba Sarvangasana (Shoulder Stand)

How to:

1. Begin by lying on your back with your arms by your sides.
2. Bend your knees in towards your body.
3. Engage the core and gently lift the legs straight up towards the sky. You can lift both legs together or one at a time.
4. Place your hands on your lower back to support it.
5. Place all your weight into your shoulders and upper arms. It’s important to avoid putting weight onto your neck and head.
6. Aim to get your torso, spine, and legs in one straight line.
7. Tuck your chin slightly to elongate your neck.
8. Hold for several breaths.
9. To come out of the pose, slowly roll your back down towards the mat, keeping your hands on your back for support if needed. If you need to, you can bend the knees to help ease yourself down slowly.

“We are the greatest thing that will ever happen to ourselves. Believe it, it will make life easier.” – Melody Beattie

Self-acceptance feels pretty simple and straightforward in theory. It is often defined as accepting all aspects of yourself, the “positive” and the “negative,” fully and unconditionally. We hear slogans or ideas like “just love yourself!” or “if you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you supposed to love somebody else?” which are valid and true. But how often have we really been given the time, space or encouragement to love ourselves not in spite of our flaws and imperfections but because of them? As someone who grew up in the 90’s in an Irish Catholic family, it’s safe to say the idea of self-acceptance isn’t something I was even aware of until it was my only option. During a time of deep grief (and my good old Saturn Return!) I began to dive deep into practices to help cultivate radical self acceptance and love for myself. Through my personal exploration, three of the many practices that have helped me deepen my connection to myself and my practice of self acceptance are sound healing, essential oils and connecting consciously to my breath.

Where it all began…

My first experience with sound healing was during a workshop at the start of my healing and wellness journey. The workshop consisted of various healing modalities that night but the sound healing portion was the part of the evening that was the most impactful for me. The sound bath created a healing space for me to connect with myself through meditation and deep listening. In order to fully tune in and listen to my body for one of the first times ever, it required me to quiet my mind and surrender to the healing vibrations of the session. Sound baths have been a vital part of my personal practice of self-acceptance ever since. Incorporating sound healing into my life consistently over the past few years has been one of the most effective ways to release stress, to release overthinking from my daily life and to learn how to connect to my body through sound and intuition.

Like many of the practices I now incorporate in my daily life, my exploration with essential oils came to me through the encouragement of an incredible teacher and friend. I was inspired by the way they used essential oils to help transform their health and well being in their daily lives. I also couldn’t help but notice how much happier they were! My friend introduced me to the benefits that essential oils can bring topically, internally and aromatically. Incorporating essential oils into my practice at home as well as with my clients has helped deepen the work that we do together through exploring smell and the way it triggers memories, thoughts and feelings in our bodies. Working with essential oils has also reminded me how to connect to myself and my body with more playfulness and joy.

For me, connecting to my breath has been the most powerful and transformative practice in my life. Breathing is our life force. We cannot live without breath and yet we are rarely encouraged to take the time to consciously connect to it. The world of breath exploration and connecting to that life force transformed my life and my work at a cellular level. Improved sleep, balancing blood pressure, release of stress hormones and strengthening the immune system are just a few of the benefits of conscious breathing. Health benefits aside, the emotional benefits of connecting to my breath have been the most influential for me. Connecting to my breath and learning more about the mechanics of breathing has given me a new found freedom to explore my emotions fully. Similar to the benefits of connecting to sound or our sense of smell, breathing required me to strip away my need to do anything but be present. It has allowed me to connect to parts of my body, my consciousness and my true self that I spent so many years “too busy” to pay attention to. Consciously connecting to my breath has required total surrender to the present moment. It has helped me to let go of my need for control, step out of my ego self and into my body to connect more fully and completely to myself. Conscious breathing practices allow me to hold space for all of me and to love myself not in spite of my flaws and imperfections but because of them.

The gifts these modalities have given me have made a lasting impression

After years of working with sound healing, essential oils, breathing techniques, reiki and so many other healing modalities I can see the transformation that has taken place within my body, mind and soul. They have not only expanded my health within my body, mind and spirit but have also significantly increased my capacity for love and compassion for myself. And the one constant that I keep returning to is that self acceptance truly is a practice. It is a practice that requires consistency, loving kindness and empathy. And a really healthy sense of humor in the moments when you need to remind yourself that we are not here to be perfect, we are here to be human.

This post was written by Katie Healy – Breathwork facilitator + Certified reiki practitioner