Embodying Yoga Alignment & Hands-on Assists - 50hr YTT with Ari

Have you been wanting to take your own personal practice further and really explore correct alignment? Or as a teacher, do you want to refine your alignment cues and assists in order to safely lead your students on a journey each class, allowing them the opportunity to grow and progress in their practice. Learning to nurture students in this way is an art form. We want ourselves and others to practice in a way that will allow us to continue well into the future, instead of wearing our bodies out with repetitive incorrect alignment.

We interviewed Ari about his 50hr Yoga Teacher Training Course.

What will the teacher training weekends involve? 

Each day begins with a deep dive into your yoga asana practice, we will move in a slow detailed way. Then we unpack what we have experienced through our live online circle. Learning how to break down the poses into great detail will allow for a better understanding of your overall practice. We also dive into some philosophy and understand the subtle energies alive within the postures. By exploring energetic alignment in the actions and patterns of movement in the asana you experience your yoga practice in a way you never have before.

Why do you believe a solid understanding of alignment and hands-on assists is important to the quality of someone’s yoga practice or teaching? 

The best teachers are the most passionate students. I understand that the journey of Yoga is always evolving, there is always something to learn. This 50 hour module is a great way to test the waters of diving deeper into a 200 hour training. How far are you willing to dive in? Once you have experienced the postures in this detailed way you’re able to revisit them later through muscle memory. We are literally creating new neural pathways in the brain. Changing the way you think and changing the way you move.

Will this training also support development and growth within personal practice? 

Absolutely!

Will verbal assists and self assists also be covered? 

Yes! We explore various types of assists, corrections and adjustments.

Is the training beneficial to those who do not teach yoga?  

Absolutely. It is really an exploration into your own practice. You know your body better than anyone. Once you understand some of the key actions of the postures and have awakened the energetics in your practice there is no limit to what you can do.

What makes you most passionate about emphasising correct alignment and assisting students? 

Aside from really understanding posture and alignment, I am excited by the movements of Prana in the practice.

Is there any work that needs to be completed outside of the four day online hours? 

There will be some homework and practice assists (peer to peer) before the accreditation.

Are you interested in developing your personal practice, or refining your alignment cues and assists as a teacher? Find out more below about our upcoming course - Our Online Embodying Yoga Alignment & Hands-on Assists - 50hr YTT with Ari.

It takes confidence in the understanding of energetic alignment to physically assist in yoga. With practical lessons, safe physical assists and alignment cues, Ari will guide you into this online intensive 50 hour training that will hone your ability to read and assess bodies and learn the application of hands-on assists all from the comfort of your own home. 

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Ari Hunter - A Journey to Yoga Teaching

You only have to attend one of Ari’s classes to experience the clear passion he has for the yoga asana and all facets of the yoga practice. Ari, our Head of Yoga, lives by what he teaches and loves to share the teachings with his students. He has had a wealth of experience from around the world, which has coloured his creative style, technical prowess, life lessons and compassionate nature - a melting pot that has made him the teacher he is, that resonates with so many students. So, what exactly led Ari to yoga teaching? Ari shares his story below: 

Yoga really found me and I now realise that I am continually finding myself within the practice. I remember being at high school and a friend of mine mentioned that they had heard of “Sun Salutations” as a way of becoming more flexible. I wasn’t particularly super flexible but had done gymnastics and martial arts as a youngster. For some reason I had the goal of standing and putting my hands flat on the floor with my legs straight. In yoga they call it “Uttanasana” which means ‘intense stretch’, which it is. So, that was the catalyst for me to get moving and motivated to lengthen my hamstrings.

As a 17 year old from the western suburbs of Sydney, there was nothing spiritual about it even though mysticism was apparent within me from an early age. I just had no idea what yoga was and I also had no idea that it would end up being a major part of my life for so many years, and a career that has since taken me over the world.

After the flip of a coin (literally) at 21, I decided to pack my bags, leave Sydney behind and get on a train to Byron Bay (back when you could get trains there). I didn’t know anyone, anything, where I would stay or for how long and that it would change my life completely. I ended up camping in the bush for a while at the back of a tea tree lake, removing myself from the failed relationships, the lack of family connection, the heartbreaks, the pressure of not having money or direction, the whole lot of it. I shed my past, I hitch hiked around barefoot and remembered to hunt beauty. I spent a lot of my time on the beach, alone in nature and hung out with witches as often as I could (loads of fun). As someone that had dived into Tarot and mysticism at 11 years old, I ended up reading tarot cards on the street via donation just to be able to eat and trained in the deeper art of Tarot and physicality with my dear friend Ly de Angeles.

Life continued.

I was performing weird performance art shows at the local tropical fruits parties and doing yoga with a great teacher named “Cat” at the then spit and sawdust local gym. She introduced me to some of the deeper layers of yoga and it was then that I heard about the Chandra Namaskar or “Moon Salutations”.

Wait… what, there were salutations to the moon as well?! My mind was blown. I hitched a ride to Sydney barefoot and read some Tarot cards at the local cafe and made some spare cash doing some shows for fun.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I became an aerial acrobat, performing and teaching all over the world as my career.  I was (and still am) getting people to move, breathe, and work their body with stretching. Back then I incorporated yoga positions in my warmups before climbing in the air. Discipline was part of the routine and extremely important when you are hanging 10 meters upside down often without a crash mat. That kind of focus and discipline ultimately saved my life. As someone with an addictive personality it kept me relatively clear on the path of health and physical fitness.

When I was living and working in England (which I did for 10 years), I ended up moving to Birmingham where I really didn’t know many people, so the local hot yoga studio became my home of sorts. I was there daily.  I eventually connected to the community and made solid friendships with people that I resonated with. I think that’s important, finding connection with people that “speak your own language”, and I don’t mean English. My focus and discipline deepened and I eventually  discovered that for me, meditation and yoga were the same thing.

The layers were deepening, I was diving in. Scary stuff for someone that already thinks way too much.

I took off to India to do my first teacher training with a teacher named Bharrath Shetty who was a dedicated student of the late and great Iyengar for many years. It was with him that I learned detailed alignment and while in India, the way of life that is yoga. Ahhh India, intense in its beauty and spirituality and all the other things that are a sensory onslaught to someone that is way too sensitive like me. I was changed, my eyes were opened again and I appreciated my life in ways I had never before. I went back a year later to complete my advanced training, soak myself again in India and learn more techniques with the breath and cleansing the body, along with turning my body into a human pretzel (fun for someone like me that was used to hanging from the ceiling and doing crazy tricks for a living!)

Since then, I have practiced and studied various movement styles over almost 30 years on my journey into movement with many amazing teachers. Maty Ezraty and Shiva Rea have been a big inspiration along with my students, a constant source of inspiration. If not for them I wouldn’t be teaching.

My understanding of yoga and movement is constantly changing as I change. Evolution is the natural order of life. I have now completed over 1,500 hours of accredited training, countless hours of workshops, masterclasses and teaching. I still don’t know if I am a yogi (or ever will be), I’m just me. I’m not one for boxes, so defining myself into one category or label is not appealing. I don’t know if anyone really knows what yoga is, I’m sure people will tell you they do, but for a subjective art form it’s hard to describe into words. Again, there are so many possibilities and opinions. Personally, for me it is ever changing and evolving. What I thought yoga was 30 years ago or even 30 days ago, is not what I believe it to be now. It changes as I change. I am still on my journey of becoming.

Yoga has helped me listen, to others, to myself and what I need. Yoga helps me breathe, find space in an often cluttered mind and remember that I can and that I am here. It also helped me reach that goal of putting my hands flat on the floor, and so much more.

Yoga reminds me that I am perfect the way that I am in all my imperfections. It helps me breathe, find space and really ground into my body, because it’s easy for my head to go up in the clouds. I’ve suffered from spouts of anxiety, depression, addictions, lack of self-worth, self-esteem, impatience, laziness… you name it and  I’ve probably been through it, like most other people.

Yoga has taught me that all things change and to embrace change. Every moment is never the same as any other.

Yoga has shown me that we can inspire each other, to care about our body, to remember the best version of ourselves in that ever changing moment. It has shown me to really see people and to see myself. I don’t know how my life would be without yoga in it. It’s kept me healthy, strong and flexible like my aerial acrobatic work has. The creativity and community yoga has brought into my life is a blessing I am thankful for every day. The teachers that have inspired and come before me I honour, and the teachers that come after me, I aspire to inspire.

To know that I have possibly changed someone’s life for the better, even for a moment, just by being me and sharing my passion for movement is my greatest joy.

I see you.

Post Source: https://ari.yoga/2020/09/24/a-journey-of-becoming/
Author: Ari Hunter

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If you are interested in deepening your own yoga practice, Ari will be leading a number of teacher training programs including;

• Embodying Yoga Alignment and Hands-On Assists

• The Art of Creative Yoga Sequencing

• Illuminating Yoga - 200hr Teacher Training

Follow the link to check them out!

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The Importance of Intelligent Yoga Sequencing

You attend a yoga class with the intention to move your body and to squeeze some exercise in to your busy week. You then, unexpectedly, walk out feeling ethereal! Your body feels equal parts stretched but strengthened, you were intensely focused and challenged yet you feel a wave of calm, you were pushed to your limits yet you felt safe and trusting in the process, you may not have spoken a word to anyone yet you feel a warm sense of community and support amidst the silence.  We often don’t spare a thought as to why we feel this way. Commonly this will be put down to simply just…yoga. However, creating these sensations and emotions in people requires a very carefully curated sequence. Below, Arian Levanael explains why it is so important to fully understand yoga sequencing..

Did you finish yoga teacher training with more questions than you started with? Or are you thinking of diving deeper into your practice and don’t know where to start? Do you feel that you know how to sequence effectively?

For students and teachers on their journey this can be a real problem and not all teacher trainings address the importance of class planning and sequencing. So, what you may be left with is a set sequences (which can be very helpful for the first stages of teaching), but no clear idea how to develop your sequencing skills from there.

With the huge popularity of yoga and literally millions of people practicing yoga all over the world, there is a great need for further education of teachers. With this in mind, why is it that resources that provide information on class sequencing are quite rare?

So here it is, a course that many students have asked me to create, because they resonate with the way I teach and/or the story I tell through their bodies. Perhaps they feel the yoga is working and their body is well looked after through my sequences.

Hopefully.

 As a teacher that mentors new teachers, sequencing is the area I tend to work with them on the most, and one that I thoroughly enjoy.

As an aerial acrobat and performer for over 20 years, my job is to sequence not only my performances, but also often choreograph for other artists. I think this is where my passion for yoga sequencing has come from. I just love attention to details and being able to choreograph a movement journey with a whole class in synchronicity is something beautiful to do. To take the students on this intelligent creative journey is a challenge I rise to every day. I am always learning, ever evolving and expanding in my understanding of yoga and its many facets. Not only sequencing, but also the key elements of asana, pranayama, meditation and all the tools that yoga has to offer.

I have practiced and studied various styles over almost 30 years on my journey into yoga. As a 17 year old that just wanted to learn sun salutations as a way to touch my toes (then get my hands flat on the floor), with no understanding of the deeper layers of the practice, to now a ‘much older’ than 17 year old teaching yoga full time internationally.

I still feel like I’m only just scratching the surface of a deep journey of remembering. I need no answers to questions, simply feeling and experiencing freedom and the mystery of all this practice unfolds is a blessing.

My goal for this training is to offer both experienced insight and practical tips on how to work skilfully with sequencing your classes. This will eliminate the challenges you might face as a yoga teacher or one that is keen to start teaching, enabling your students to remember their true potential through your class and for you to remember your authentic voice.

There are so many ways to sequence a yoga class, so many options and it’s difficult to know how the story will unfold. Making the right choices of what to put in your class is important for your student’s journey, safety and the overall experience of their practice. As teachers we literally have our student’s bodies in our hands and it is our responsibility to ensure everybody is warmed up for often challenging asana and transitions between asana.

For an effective yoga sequence, it is not enough to mechanically follow a series of set postures that together make no sense. We must tell a story to the body and take it on a patient journey of awakening and an adventure of transformation through the sequence of our design. Our teaching can inspire the same flexibility that we are trying to develop in our bodies. Being open to new ways of moving and exploration is where the magic happens.

The yoga sequence you offer may leave your students feeling energised, deeply relaxed or spiritually connected. Hopefully some amazing combination of all three and more! But one thing I do know is that each person has their own unique experience. Just remember that no two classes are ever the same, even if the sequence never varies. The experience on your mat will be unique every single time because no two moments are exactly the same. Yesterday’s practice is not today’s practice, and today’s practice is not tomorrow’s practice. Allow each experience in the asana to be unique and unfold in the present.

Through this fun and informative training we will learn how to adapt asana sequences relative to the level of students, their overall health, life-style and environment. We will dive deep into asana practice and understand the layers of the pose. There are a lot of things to consider even before you decide on the type of journey that you want to take your students on, but do not be overwhelmed, this art can be honed, and it can be very enjoyable.

Teaching yoga is a passion and joy for me to share with others. It is from this devotion to this beautiful art that I humbly share my experience.

We can take yoga sequencing for granted. We often don’t appreciate the skill, heart and time that has been devoted to those sequences that have quite literally helped to change our life in one way or another.

Original author: Arian Levanael
First published: January 21, 2021
Link to article: https://arianlevanael.com/2021/01/21/why-yoga-sequencing-is-so-important-to-understand/

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