Diane’s Diary
There is an ongoing “dialogue” you are having with your students throughout the savannas.  Engage the students’ minds and keep them from thinking about their life!  You do it throughout the entire class, mostly on the floor.  When they get on the floor, you have the ability to educate them, empower them, and of course, correct them.  Ultimate destination is to help them to feel good about themselves.  The yoga is hard…you don’t have to be.

Conversations go on all the time with teacher and student and student to student outside the room, but they should also be going on in the 90 minute class.  It is still a dialogue, not the back and forth kind of conversation, but the one where the teacher is assuring the students that are struggling, encouraging the student trying to get to the next step in the posture, correcting students and ultimately empowering everyone in the room in some way.

Saying the dialogue and being consistent with it allows you the freedom to customize each class to the students (and teachers) in the class.  Some classes are more quiet and contemplative and some classes are more educational, especially when there are new students in the class.

A long time ago, after I’d memorized the dialogue (2005) and been using it  for awhile, I was wondering (like every teacher) if the students were bored with it.  There was a new student in class and like usual when there is a new student, I was educating the class about the basics. In savannas, I talked about breathing normal, taking care of themselves, and trying the right way.  After class, a long time student said to me, “I love it when there are new students in class because you always remind us of the basics.”  In that moment I knew the value of the dialogue and that I would continue to use it and encourage others to use it as well.

Love,
Diane
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