116: Integrating Buddha Dharma and Asana with Meredith Witte – Live Mentoring Session

Many of the yoga teachers I’ve worked with feel more comfortable and confident teaching asana than they do teaching the other seven limbs of yoga. This was true of me as a new teacher also! Questions about how to skillfully interweave dharma and asana come up frequently with the teachers in our community. 

It is important to note that if asana feels totally separate from the rest of Yoga and we have to work to reintegrate it, that is a sign that the yoga we are teaching is impacted by colonization and appropriation. I don’t say that to upset anyone; It would be very hard to avoid the impacts of those oppressive forces since they are the water of the culture we swim in.

In any case, I’m so happy to share with you this Live Mentoring Session with longtime listener of the show and wonderful yoga teacher Meredith Witte. Meredith brought excellent, thoughtful questions that inspired an in-depth conversation about finding my voice and integrating dharma and asana. I hope you enjoy listening in!

In this episode you’ll hear:

  • the way I shared dharma as a new teacher
  • how I plan my group classes
  • the ways I try to create a clear relationship between the movement practice and dharma themes
  • how a deep study of anatomy impacted my understanding of Buddhist teachings
  • skillful ways to incorporate dharma into private sessions

Learn More From Meredith:

This episode is sponsored by OfferingTree!   Sign up at www.offeringtree.com/mentor to get 50% off your first three months (or 15% off any annual plan).  With OfferingTree, yoga teachers put their schedule on a personally branded website where students can book classes and even pay or donate online.  All of this can be set up in 10 minutes or less.  OfferingTree supports me with each sign-up.

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2 Responses to “116: Integrating Buddha Dharma and Asana with Meredith Witte – Live Mentoring Session”

  1. Janie Ganga

    I really enjoyed this episode. I wanted to add a reflection — the way that Francesca supports teachers makes space for any kind of dharma to intertwine with their teaching of asana & pranayama. In other words, for Teachers who are more familiar with the Yoga Sutras or the Bhagavad Gita or the Chakras or the Koshas or stories about Ganesha or teachings from Swamis or sages, those are just as readily applicable to be integrated with teaching a movement practice. I’ve found that each of us resonates with different pieces of Philosophy at different moments and I love the myriad of ways that YOGA can integrate all of these pieces. <3

    Reply
    • Francesca Cervero

      Thank you so so much for this reflection Janie! I really appreciate you and all the wisdom you bring to our community!

      Reply

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