On Friday, September 26, my assessment weekend offically begins.
We start off with tech check, as the candidates and the assessors will be zoomed in so we can see each other. Then we have a group practice, with both candidates and the assessors practicing together towards an apex pose with a philosophical element, followed by a discussion afterward.
Then we have to present our 45 minute inversions practice where we demonstrate our skills in doing Adho Mukha Vrksasana (Handstand) and Pincha Mayurasana (Forearm Balance) as well as variations in Sirsasana (Headstand) and Sarvangasana (Sarvangasana). You can watch a video I made of myself working out this practice here. (Maybe you can even practice along with me!)
This is followed by our individual presentations where each one of us will have about 10 minutes to speak about an aspect of Iyengar yoga and how it has impacted our lives. My individual presentation is called “Aging, Ego, Injury and Perfection in Asana”. It is about how I tore my meniscus doing yoga and how I healed it doing yoga. You can watch one of my read throughs here.
We end the day with a 45 minute conducted performance where someone will call out the poses on the Level 2 syllabus and we have to perform them.
The candidates will be teaching their 45 - 55 minute classes on Saturday and Sunday. My class is on Sunday at 11:45. So, I have Saturday off and can rehearse my sequence one last time. Since my sequence includes 3 poses with Padmasana (Lotus), I made a little warm up video for my students to help them prepare for my assessment class. You can watch that video here.
I’m ready. I’m nervous. I’m afraid to start. I can’t wait for it to be over. I’m trying to enjoy the journey. I have seen how much my teaching has changed and grown by putting myself through this process. I’m glad I challenged myself. I’m experiencing all of these emotions at once.
As part of my class, I have to teach some yoga philosophy to accompany the physical practice. I chose to speak about the two wings of yoga: Abhyasa (practice) and Vairagya (non-attachment). Mr Iyengar says that just as a bird needs two wings to fly, so our practice must have two wings: If you just have practice, the process can become goal oriented and aggressive, injuries may occur. If you just have dispassion or detachment, you might not make forward progress and stagnation may occur. Another way of saying this is: Controlling one’s consciousness to cultivate a yogic mind through sustained practice and dispassion helps prevent injuries and cultivates radical self-acceptance.
Yesterday, Sunday, I did my run through with my students. I thought it went pretty well until I realized that I had forgotten to hit the record button on zoom! Oh no! The plan was that I would have a recording to watch and critique myself. I didn’t want to ask my students to do the class again. Some of them had to go, but some of them stayed and encouraged me to do it again and record it. So, I did. Although the second time through we all were tired. I will watch the recording and see what I can learn from it. What did I do well? And, what do I need to improve on?
By this time next week, I will know if I passed or not. I’m told that it is about a 50% pass rate. I’m trying to cultivate dispassion and radical self-acceptance. Fingers crossed. Thanks for walking this journey with me!