Ready for Intermediate Yoga?

Six signs that you are ready for Intermediate level Namaste Yoga classes

#1) You have gone through the beginner’s series on Namaste Yoga (Namaste Yoga 129-135) and you know what to expect in the general flow of a Namaste Yoga class. In other words, you no longer need a preview of all the postures in the class at the beginning and you feel pretty confident that you are ready for the poses that will show up.

#2) You have gone through the Beginner Yoga poses classes in Namaste Yoga  from Namaste Yoga 153-159 so that you are familiar with the basic poses of yoga that will show up in many yoga classes. You feel self-reliant when it comes to mountain, tree pose, downward facing dog, bridge pose, triangle pose, the warrior poses, side angle pose, cobra pose, and bow pose.

#3) You understand how to breathe and are comfortable breathing in a yoga class. We have a great beginner yoga class on the fundamentals of yoga breathing for you that you can go through. Click here

#4) You know how to look after your own body. You have been to see your medical doctor and you have received instructions based on your medical conditions and or injuries on what movements will help your medical conditions or injuries and what medical conditions will hurt your medical conditions or injuries. You know how to be your own best teacher in your yoga class. You know what poses work for your body and what ones you need to modify or leave out.

#5) You`re starting to feel like I`m talking too much and giving too many instructions. You are ready for more silence in the yoga class. This is a sure sign that you are ready for the intermediate classes where you will be given less instructions, more space and time for reflection.

#6) You came to yoga for the physical practice of stretching and strengthening your body but you notice you are receiving something more and you like it. Perhaps you notice you are less stressed, your emotions are a little more calm, you have more energy and are sleeping better and you have a little more connection with your spirit. If you are interested in exploring this connection to your mind, emotions, energy and spirit then you are definitely ready to take the next step to explore some of the topics that I present in Namaste Yoga.

 

Discernment

Over the last five weeks we have been on a journey of transforming our inner critic. We have befriended, brought awareness, acceptance, choice and truth to our inner critic. If you have not done Namaste Yoga 276, 277, 278, 279 or 280, they are prerequisites to this class. This series is cumulative and relies on the knowledge you gained in those four classes to move forward.

Click here for the Series

Thank you for joining us on this important inward journey through yoga.

Today’s class is about discernment. It is about noticing the subtle layers of your inner critic and the choice to go deeper. With discernment we explore the layers of our inner critics until they reveal themselves, because always something more that will reveal itself. First you notice your inner critic, then you notice more. You may discern your inner critic isn’t very kind, then you may discern that you are not your inner critic. You detach.

Can I discern the difference between me and my inner critic?

Can I notice the layers of each thing?

In this class you are going to TYM about what you notice.

With discernment you are going to learn to take a step back.

Evita from our membership site explains discernment between herself and her inner critic well,

“To me, the most difficult thing is to separate my inner critic from myself, I mean, bring awareness to this voice… When I do that, then I try not to identify with it. I love this classes because I have discovered that I didn’t listen to my inner critic at all while doing yoga! I just thought it as the truth!”

Instead of identifying with your inner critic you have the opportunity to detach. Instead of believing it is you that is a perfectionist, too hard on yourself, too ready to please or has too many rules, you can take a step back and recognize that is our critic. This is discernment.

When you practice discernment, you take a step back and realize, it is not me who is critical of myself, that is my inner critic. You can come back to your attitude of befriending your inner critic and find out what is causing your critic to feel anxious, vulnerable and upset.

Carrie, one of our members, really got this, “What stood out for me in this class (on accepting your inner critic) was thinking about our Inner Critic being “terrified” that we might be seen as not kind enough, or not pretty enough, or not generous enough, or whatever it has focused on. When I really sat with that thought, my heart just melted with love for my poor, terrified Inner Critic.”

Through discernment we detach and alleviate the anxiety of the inner critic.

Peige from our membership site said, ”While I was practicing this class(Namaste Yoga 278), my sankalpa for the duration of this series came to me: I will learn to hear and discern my Inner Critic, recognize her message, and determine if there is any wisdom in it for me.” I’ve realized that I don’t always recognize my inner critic. It’s easier to accept that she wants me to be okay — loved, accepted, well-thought of “

When you practice this level of discernment you are able to step back with awareness, acceptance, and loving kindness and make a different choice about the truth of your situation. You are able to see how your stressed-out, anxious, vulnerable and upset critic is just trying to keep you safe. Like a parent you are able to authoritatively make a better choice for yourself.

With discernment, when you go deeper and see the truth behind the inner critic, you may start to see the inner critic as less judgmental.