donutszenmom.com

A video about learning. Or not.

Lax is talking about teachers today. Very interesting subject. Calls up all kinds of thoughts about authority and instruction and self-motivation, etc.

I like the fundamentalist approach of Annie Pace or Celeste Lau, but I also like the laid-back West Coast stylings of Anthony Carlisi and Volleyball Guy.

I guess I just like to know what the teacher’s parameters are. I can adjust to either/any style, which is zen style (Be open to the teacher in front of you).

When I taught The Cop, and when I counted the impromptu led at Saturday class a couple of weeks ago, I did my usual “Here I go; follow along to the best of your abilities” kind of teaching. Now that I think about it, that’s my management style, too. I like to model the behavior I expect, and I certainly am open to questions, but I prefer if people try a bit on their own and attempt to figure things out by themselves before they start peppering me with questions.

In fact, that’s a pet peeve of mine at work: it is a culture where you can barely get a sentence out before the questions start pouring in. If I’ve built a presentation on a concept, or written a business case, let me outline the big picture before you get all down and dirty with the details!

LOL! These may be artifacts of psychoanalysis and zen training: you learn that if you just are silent and pay attention for a while, things come clear in a way they won’t if you get too attached to using words to try to figure things out.

At led this weekend, there were three brand new people. One brand new to Ashtanga, and two pretty much brand new to yoga. The British Director set them up so they’d be to the left of established practitioners, and she also kept an eye on them. I had a gal to my left and to my right, and I figured my best bet was just to go about my business and let them do what they could. One of the gals across from us, though, a somewhat new Ashtangi, kept trying to explain things to the poor newbies. Which, of course, led to utter confusion for the most part. Her intention was good; her results, not so much.

I wondered if The British Director felt frustrated by this. She’s a pretty laid back person, so it probably bothered me more than it bothered her.

I still feel like people learn more by muddling unmolested through a whole class, rather than by trying to work into the details of individual poses. But that’s me. I’m pretty hands off — of both bodies and minds. I did wonder if the helpful gal thought this would make the practice seem more appealing to the new folks, that perhaps it would seem more inviting if they got lots of words and attention. Maybe she was on to something, too — I know there are people who like that sort of thing.

(I guess I like to exert my authority silently.)

I suspect most long-term Ashtanga practitioners are more introverted, leave-me-to-my-own-experience types. That’s been what I’ve seen, for the most part. Not many extraverts or social butterflies. But, again, my experience is certainly limited.

Indeed.