Show Notes
Asana serves as a gateway to inner transformation, offering not just physical benefits but also profound connections to the mind, emotions, and spirit. When explored through the lens of accessibility, a deeper understanding of asana can unfold.
What do yoga teachers need to know to make asana more accessible for their students? Join Jivana and this episode’s guest, Avery Kalapa, as they describe an accessible asana practice that is rooted in awareness, compassion, and inner exploration. Together they offer advice to yoga teachers to explore the intention of asana and approach an asana practice with courage and curiosity.
Topics include:
Topics include:
Asana in Iyengar Yoga
Asana as the organization of energy
Using asana to support the design of the body
The function of asana in liberating the breath
Embracing structural organization over alignment
Subtle awareness and the inward journey
Understanding functional anatomy to empower asana
Check out Jivana’s new book, The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga, and get more information about the book on his website.
Connect with Jivana:
www.jivanaheyman.com | @jivanaheyman | facebook.com/jivanaheyman
Avery Janeczek Kalapa (they, them) is a Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher, community weaver at Sadhana Support Collective, and queer + trans wellness organizer; they are also an eRYT500, YACEP, BFA, with over 2 decades of yoga experience. Celebrated for their enthusiasm, devotion, and depth of somatic technique, Avery specializes in functional asana grounded in applied yoga philosophy. They support queers and other counter-culture yoga lovers to break the burn-out cycle and be nourished, and spiritually powerful without bypassing the wisdom of their body and lived experience. Avery’s a parent, gardener, artist, creator; a white, queer, trans, nonbinary settler based in unceded Tiwa land, Albuquerque NM.
Connect with Avery:
yogawithavery.com | @yoga_with_avery
More from The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga
In this final wrap up episode, Jivana offers an overview of his book, The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga, and highlights a few topics that are of particular importance to him. Whether you’ve read the book or not, this episode addresses many key elements in making yoga accessible for yoga teachers and yoga therapists.
How does being a student of yoga translate into teaching yoga? Loving the practice and wanting to share it with others is at the heart of becoming a teacher. As a teacher, you also continue learning and evolving, deepening your own understanding and practice. This journey of teaching and learning is a continuous cycle that enriches both teacher and students.
“All we're doing is preparing for that moment, where grace just drops in." - Tracee Stanley
According to the yoga teachings, pranayama is among the most powerful practice we have. Yet, many of the common breathing practices are taught in ways that are not accessible or trauma-informed. How can teachers make pranayama more accessible to their students?
Initially, Shavasana may seem like a simple posture. But, when we approach the practice with a little more depth, we can discover a powerful restorative practice with profound and multifaceted benefits.