Teacher Training
Instead of taking Sunny’s Hot Power Fusion class tonight, I observed it. As part of our 60-yoga class requirement for Yoga Teacher Training, we’re required to observe two Hot Power Fusion classes. I set up my mat in the back of the room and brought my phone out to use as a voice recorder to record the class. With the recording of the class, I planned on listening to it later (while sitting in traffic on my way to and from work) in hopes of memorizing some of Sunny’s cues and transitions used during her class.
Normally, I’m used to being an active participant in a Hot Power Fusion class so it was weird to sit and watch class. Observing an HPF class is a whole lot different than taking one. Most of the time when I take an HPF class, my eyes are either closed, staring back at myself in the front mirror or looking down at my mat. Observing class tonight allowed me to keep my eyes open and see things I’ve never noticed before while taking class.
Here are some key observations I made. I never gave much thought to where Sunny was in the room while teaching class. I watched Sunny as she walked around the room, especially in the back, watching the students during class. There were times when she would even squat down to watch students get in and out of postures. From where I was sitting in the back in the room, I not only could see all of the students in the room, I also had a great view of their alignment. I watched Sunny as she walked back and forth, looking at the bodies in class and adjusting them whenever appropriate. I could see how if she had walked back and forth in the front of the room while everyone was looking at himself or herself in the mirror, it might have been more intimidating for the students. Being in the back of the room allowed Sunny to get a clear view of all the students and didn’t interfere with them being able to see themselves in the mirror.
During Awkward Series (all three parts), I saw that as Sunny was cueing, she did each part of the posture from the back of the room. I don’t think it was about demonstrating the posture for the students in class because she didn’t callout that she was doing the posture. To me, at least where I’m at in teacher training with trying to memorize the sequence and the cues for each posture, doing the posture from the back of the room while I cue it is comforting. The muscle memory makes it much easier for me to remember what cues to use for the posture.
Other key observations I made while watching Sunny teach class tonight were all of her hands-on assists. I loved watching how she would come up to a student, ground herself and then gracefully offer her assist while the student was in the posture. Then just as she gracefully approached a student, she would walk away from them equally as graceful. It was almost like Sunny was doing a dance with her students.
Everyone in her class was assisted by Sunny at some point during class, whether it was during Savasana, Camel, Warrior II or even the super cool assist I saw offered during Scorpion, in-between Three-Legged Dog and Downward Facing Dog. I made a note to ask Sunny about how she did that particular assist after class. It looked like a really good assist and one you’d have to time just perfectly.
By the end of watching Sunny’s class tonight, I learned a couple of her secrets. At the end of class, Sunny walked around each student and gently waved a towel over him or her. In her Saturday Yoga Sculpt class, I could have sworn I had felt a gentle breeze while laying in Final Savasana. Now I know I wasn’t crazy! I know Sunny’s secret!! It’s the gentle towel wave. Trust me, by the end of class after you’ve sweated out of each pore in your body, a gentle breeze feels amazing. Now I know how she does it! I also saw her spray essential oils in the air during final Savasana. Now I know how the room always smells so good by the end of class.
Class #30, Hot Power Fusion with Sunny at CorePower Yoga U-District (Observe-1)