Today's quote is accompanied by a photo of a howling coyote in a snow-covered wilderness. Go there in your imagination and take a moment to appreciate the silence of the scene, and the powerful energy moved by the coyote's howl.
One voice (one's voice) is a powerful tool. Aside from learning the mechanics of teaching yoga, that was one of the most profound lessons hammered into us by Ana Forrest in teacher training. We moved a lot of personal energy doing "lions"--assuming a strong stance, breathing deeply, and roaring like a lion with all our might. When I use this in my classes, newcomers to the practice are usually a combination of startled by the noise and amused by the seeming silliness of it. However, as was made very clear in yoga training, there are plenty of folks who are not comfortable making any sort of noise. That is, they are not comfortable speaking their own personal truth, expressing feelings, needs, wants, etc. This seems to be disproportionately true for women. I believe it's an ongoing life practice, learning to use one's voice. We deer-in-the-headlights yoga students were quite timid at roaring in the beginning, but imagine 45 fully-empowered yogis crammed into a small room and roaring. We easily made the place shake. You can't lead a yoga class if you are afraid to be heard.
I offer my classes the option of doing coyote howls instead of lions. Whatever it takes to get them to release some energy. The wonderful thing about strong "lions" and "coyotes" is that each moves a lot of energy, and that energy does not need to be analyzed or named, just moved out of one's body. Roars and howls are an excellent way to release anger, frustration, even great joy.
Do try this at home, or in your car, or out in the wilderness. You might warn anyone else near you first, just being polite. 👍👍😉😉
Loving my lungs,
Leta
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