Week Nine

The heat is on in the ninth week of our YTT journey. With three guest presenters, more teaching practice, and group discussions it was a fiery weekend and Wednesday evening practice!

SATURDAY

This weekend we kicked off Saturday’s session with another practice-teach exercise. Each student selected two postures to cue another student and we used these postures to string together a sequence of sorts. Each student took a turn giving cues for the selected postures — the rest of the class was simply to observe. It was enlightening, as always, to hear how differently each trainee approached giving cues and to see how differently everyone listened to cues.

Picture above, a still from our virtual conversation with Lauren Ross on her journey to practicing Kemetic yoga.

For the second half of our Saturday session, we welcomed a fellow Tree YTT graduate and Kemetic yoga teacher, Lauren Ross. As a social worker in South Central Los Angeles, Lauren often worked with clients who had experienced complex traumas and yoga had become a way for her to cope with stress. Lauren found her way to The Tree yoga studio after discovering yoga but feeling out of touch with white yoga spaces. Within her yoga practice Lauren began to wonder, “Where are the Black people?” The answer to her question came in the form of Kemetic yoga.

Kemetic yoga as it is practiced today is informed by the philosophy of the ancient people of Kemet (indigenous Africans that once lived in the geographical area now known as Egypt). It is a system of physical practice and breathwork as well as a spiritual, communal, and ancestral practice. At the spiritual center of Kemetic yoga are the seven principles of Ma’at: Truth, Balance, Order, Harmony, Righteousness, Reciprocity, and Justice. These principles inform the moral philosophy developed by the people of ancient Kemet. 

Pictured above, the Positive 42 Confessions of Ma’at (sometimes called the 42 Ideals or Precepts)

In her practice, Lauren sees Kemetic yoga as a tool of inspiration and self-empowerment for Black people and Black culture. It can be used to combat the racist blocks caused by racist traumas as well as a way to cultivate the self in community. Lauren closed her presentation with a profound Kemetic yoga sequence; she poured libations as we called the names of our ancestors, we then moved the body with the breath, and closed the practice with a chant of peace. Namaste and Asé!

SUNDAY

Sunday's session had not one but two guest presentations!

For the first half of the class, yogi and co-owner of The Tree Co-op, Rita Ortiz, joined the session to talk about “Mayan Yoga.” This “Mayan Yoga” was really a look into the Meso-American yogic-like indigenous philosophy more accurately known as Toltekayotl. Similar to Lauren’s experience with Kemetic yoga, Rita came to Toltekayotl with a desire to connect to her Mexican roots and to decolonize her own practice of yoga. In the presentation, Rita gave us an overview of her research into the ancient practice and philosophy of Toltekayotl — a practice which she intends to eventually share with the community at The Tree.

Pictured above, our presenter Rita Ortiz discusses the cosmological significance of the Aztec deity, Quetzalcoatl, and its connections to the practice of Toltekayotl.

According to Rita’s research, the Tolteks were the practitioners of the philosophy of Toltekayotl in Cemanahuac (the region now known as Mexico). Toltek can be translated to mean “artist”, and these artists were interested in practicing the art of good living. To aid in this art, the ancient Tolteks observed the 13 Principles (somewhat similar to the yamas and niyamas), practiced several forms of breath control, and had a postural practice that connected specific movements to particular calendar days.

These practices and beliefs live on in the cultural memory and oral tradition of present day Mexican seekers and neo-shamans, despite the destruction perpetrated by the Spanish invasion. Rita’s studies and presentation on the Totelkayotl philosophy painted a picture of the power and ubiquity of indigenous knowledge around the world.

Picture above, April “Thee WyldChyld” D’Aguilar — with our trainer, J — introduces the class to the practice of yoga nidra.

After a short break we got into our second guest lecture of the day with April “Thee WyldChyld” D’Aguilar — a teacher and practitioner of yoga nidra as well as a longtime friend of The Tree for many years. So what is yoga nidra? At its core the practice of yoga nidra is about withdrawing the senses and entering a state of deep rest. Yoga nidra has its roots in the yoga sutras and was originally developed in the early 1900s by a young yogi prodigy who sought a less robust and more restorative yoga practice. 

During her presentation, April outlined the process involved in this practice. First, one must prepare the body with a pre-practice that releases tension. Once that tension is released the practitioner comes to a resting pose, usually a comfortable and well supported savasana. Then, breathwork is used to clear the energetic channels of the subtle body. And finally, the practitioner must go inward, focusing on the sensations of the body. It is a reflective practice that often involves journaling and the creation of a sankalpa, or a resolution informed by the heart that requires positive action. As April put it, this practice is about going deep and gaining awareness that may be just outside our waking perceptions. She led the class in a beautiful practice to close the day, leaving us in a state of peace and restful repose.

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday evening got heated with our discussion of the third niyama, tapas. Tapas is the heat we create when we choose to pursue discipline in our lives. Through the practice of the preceding yamas and niyamas, the yogi can gain greater awareness of the self. This awareness naturally gives way to a clarity and focus that makes the practice of self discipline possible. 

In our class discussion, we covered a range of topics. We discussed how the dominant culture either offers blind comfort and no discipline or offers an inflexible, punishing discipline that makes self knowledge difficult. Other points of interest in our discussion were: how discipline requires purpose, the tension between discipline and non-excess, and how discipline can look different on different kinds of people in different areas of life. We even discussed how we can use self-discipline to enhance our practice of rest, pleasure, and joy. This was an expansive conversation that definitely is going to be a slow burn.