As I mentioned yesterday, I went to a workshop with Juliet Forch over the weekend. It’s been a long time since I was as blown away by anything as I was by her teaching – probably not since I first stumbled on Susi Hately Aldous’s work four or five years ago. I wrote about her a lot for a while, and I use her techniques in my teaching ALL the time.
It’s going to be that way with Juliet too.
She started by giving us a talk about the spine, a topic of endless fascination to me, and mentioned that she thinks the psoas muscle is the most important postural muscle, for which I will probably always love her (on account of how I think that, too)
She then taught us all sorts of ways to unlock the tight (and generally more stable) parts of the spine, and to stabilise the wobbly bits (hellooooo lower back and neck).
All but three of the people in the room were teachers and the workshop was pitched at us – I feel a bit sorry for the non-teachers because there was a lot of talk about torsion, and extension, and flexion, and iliac crests, and intervertebral discs. (Are your eyes watering from the fancy words yet? Mine are)
But I suspect that they still got as much out of it as I did because the workshop was largely experiential, with Juliet guiding us to feel our own bodies, to be responsible for our own experience and safety – it was very empowering, and for me, delightful to go into a yoga class and be told repeatedly to take care of myself, to ask my body how it feels, whether it is comfortable, whether anything needs to change for it to be more comfortable.
I often say that I am not group class material because, sadly, so few yoga teachers run their classes this way – Juliet was as permissive in her teaching as I am, and about ten years more experienced. It was a mind-blowing combination – I’m hoping that in ten years, I will be as knowledgeable as her, and I suggest that if you get a chance to study with her, you take it.
Related articles
- Headstand Part 2: It’s risky, keep safe (yogawithnadine.com)
- What yoga is right for you? (melbournemobileyoga.com.au)
- Nadine Falwell: Yoga Is For Everyone (michellemyhre.com)
Moving from Stability: Understanding the Pelvis in Posture (Online workshop)
Light Up Your Life
They don’t, though. I mean, I teach that way, of course! But there are not that many teachers who do, it’s really sad.
You know I wrote about it at length in December after that unfortunate episode in Bali
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“Juliet guiding us to feel our own bodies, to be responsible for our own experience and safety – it was very empowering, and for me, delightful to go into a yoga class and be told repeatedly to take care of myself, to ask my body how it feels, whether it is comfortable, whether anything needs to change for it to be more comfortable.
it is really kind of shocking to me to think that teachers DON’T teach this way! I mean, really?!? Because I do, and have for a long time. Like you, I am also not group class material.