Pedagogy, Critical Thinking, and Yoga Evolution | Embodiment Time Podcast

We are at an intersection between old and new pedagogical approaches in yoga educational spaces. As teachers, we have some fascinating choices to make with regards to how we lead classes and trainings, and how we guide people into their bodies. It may be less about what we teach and more about how we teach. What is it that we’re actually teaching underneath our lesson plans? What are we modeling?

I had one of my most favorite conversations to date with host Magdalena Weinstein on her podcast Embodiment Time. I love this talk (topics below) because Magdalena drives at the heart of what I find most interesting about teaching yoga today.

Some of the topics covered include:

• The story behind my pedagogic skills, growing up surrounded by teachers and conversations around pedagogy, and her teaching experience previous to yoga.
• The difference between my approach and the guru-based model of Iyengar yoga, which can be summarized as a horizontal vs. vertical model of apprenticeship.
• The challenges of training new yoga teachers and the culture of yoga in India vs. in the West, plus how to honor yoga while using it in a way that feels relevant to the people we are sharing it with.
• Kinesiopathologizing, in contrast to Movement Optimism, through the lens of Dr. Greg Lehman.
• The mistake that movement specialists make in terms of trying to fix posture, vs. exposing people to a variety of movement, as well as reflections on the right vs. wrong alignment approach of a vast majority of yoga teachers.
• A yoga teacher scope of practice and reflections about the essence of yoga.

Go here to listen!