Please HELP! Will lecture about yoga to newbies!

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Dear yogaforum community! I heed you advise. I will be lecturing in front of college student about yoga. I have no idea what to talk about. :confused:I was in this situation before. I have no problems to talk about yoga philosophy and benefits, asanas, breathing exercise, meditation to people who already know something about yoga, but have no idea what can I tell to nebies. Should I do demo of asanas? What do you think the goal of this lecture should be?

Please advise me what would you tell them.

appreciate your help:)

CityMOnk

#2

There are two issues you present.
The first has traces to the offer and acceptance of the lecture. I have often seen postings on yoga forums where teachers have agreed to work with a certain population, teach a therapeutic class, or speak on a topic - then they are in a panic because they haven’t the slightest idea on how to do that which they have agreed to do.

In some respects this can be adventure, exciting, new, learning, a frontier, a breakthrough…in others it is simply an acceptance without mindfulness. Not knowing the circumstances in this particular instances, I cannot go deeper.

The second is what to share with those who don’t know anything about Yoga (based on what you’ve shared, CM). That sharing would depend on what is available in the arsenal of the speaker and what the subsequent intent for the lecture might be. Neither of those have been divulged in the text of this post.

Obviously the lecture - which again we do not know and it could be 5 minutes or two hours - needs to be concise, rudimentary, and straight forward. I personally would map out the things I want left with the audience and then reverse engineer my lecture in order to get those things covered. I would think any lecture of this sort would have to begin with some discourse on what yoga is.

#3

Thank you Gorgon! you are helpful as always!

#4

Thank you Gorgon! you are helpful as always! Explaining to you the problem, seem to help solve it as well… so

Let’s see if i can provide you with more information.

Intent of the lecture is to familiarize local community with what is yoga about and why people all over the world practicing it for centuries. Obviously, it has to be inspiring and I can not go away from promises of perfect healthy body and peace with the self. Ideally, I’d like to give them an idea what yoga not just a gymnastics for the body, make them exited, make them want research and practice…(sounds like too much:)

The population will be - women ages 21-35, college students of central Florida and girlz from local community. The time frame is up to me, and I’ thinking about 30-40 minutes, depends on how they will respond.

I do not want to lecture on common sense things like: increase strength and flexibility, get rig of stress and find you true self, but the more I think about it the more I convinced that this is what I will end up with. Do you think that common sense is ok or it is sounds like common sense to me?

Do you think demonstration on asanas and breath exercises might be good? Which one would you present? ( Last time I showed udiana bandha exercised, and the audience on newbies was shocked:))

Please help me to find the equilibrium: do not talk about common sense and do not shock people with statement: you should change your life and do udiana bandha every day. :))

Again, would you speak about yoga philosophy, meditation, diet, or limit intro to asanas only?

Thanks a lot!

CityMOnk

#5

What is it that draws you to yoga most? What do you think has most transformed you? Aside from being complete, or giving the most information - what is most important to you?

#6

CityMonk,
It’s nice to know you took up the social responsibility to spreading Yoga awareness.

I have taken couple of lectures on Yoga as well as Meditation and would like to describe my experience.

> The Audience was ranging from age group of 30 to 55 years with equal no of men and women.
> For those, who are completely new to Yoga are more curious about various Yoga asana and their advantages.
> Experience people have questions/queries about various Yoga aspects i.e. how diet affects Yoga, Time and Place where Yoga should be performed, Looking for experienced Yoga teacher and so on.

I must say, these lectures will not be successful without help of my Guru, Unity. I suggest that you should consult experience Yoga/Meditation Guru and ask for the suggestions and tips. It will definitely help you.

#7

all the best Baba!!!

#8

Have you tried visiting nearby Yoga center or reading books?

#9

Dear Citymonk, the best of luck with your presentation on yoga. Please teach only those aspects that you are familiar with personally. Through both intellectual knowledge [U]and[/U] your personal practice. This will make you more comfortable in lecturing and help you to present a clear picture. For example, if your practice is asana you could define hatha yoga, place hatha yoga in the context of classical yoga (i.e. between yama/niyama and pranayama/pratyahara/dharana …), describe yoga sutras II-46-48, show a few asanas and tell the audience how your flexibility, strength, and health has improved.

Please don’t spread misconceptions like “Well… real yogi-yogi should refrain from sexual intercourse…and much more and more… vegetarian is not the only one thing…” Unless, of course, you are practicing this personally. And even then, it would be beneficial to place this in a wider context of explaining brahmacharya and its various interpretations.

Yoga can only be taught with your life. Are you are able to walk your talk?

#10

Also, if you are going to take only few lectures then you should give overview about Yoga and various asana and ask people about their queries/questions.

But if you are going to take series of lecture then you should prepare your lecture plan well ahead of time and should do deep research on Yoga and Meditation.

#11

I would:

  • perhaps start with a bit of personal experience - where you are on your yoga journey;
  • briefly introduce the history of yoga, where it all began and how it transformed through the years;
  • describe what yoga is now;
  • outline the benefits of yoga - physical, mental and spiritual; maybe touch on yogic lifestyle;
  • perhaps talk about common misconceptions about it, now and in the past;
  • and finally, the next steps: where to go / what to do to experience the brilliance that is yoga :slight_smile:

And there’s your half hour, I think!

Encourage lots of audience participation, let them guide you as to what they already know and what they want to know.

In terms of illustrating the practice, perhaps you could do a bit of guided meditation with the audience? Something that would help them experience what it’s all about :slight_smile:

Good luck!

#12

In any group discussion starting with Personal expectance it best strategy

#13

Here’s some inspiration from a legend.

mp3 - Intellectual Yoga by Allan Watts

Insightful.

#14

I was in a similar situation the other day, the topic was not yoga though, but I had to give a presentation on the basics of what I do to a ‘beginners’ audience.

It is always difficult to remember what you felt like when you were a beginner so I can totally relate to your dilemma.

After many back and forth ideas, I finally decided to keep it practical and apply it to everyday scenarios so that my audience can relate and engage with the content I was presenting.

It worked wonders!

So perhaps you could tell stories, which may inspire, provoke thought, and incite curiosity.

Your aim could be to lead them to their own discovery of what yoga is, well after you have left…

#15

Thank you, Willem. I have been thinking about the original poster’s question over the last few days and was logging on today to add a very similar note to your own, along with a dash of Gordon’s. I admire and benefit from both of you, as I do with much of what has been offered in this thread and by all who have added their wise offerings. A deep bow to each of you!

CityMonk,
I am not surprised that you when you attempted to teach a new-to-Yoga population any bhanda in a short-format demonstration, that you were met with shock. This is a great piece of feedback, and it appears you are now taking this into consideration as you plan your newest lecture. Based in my work, I would also consider teaching bhandas to a “newbie” population, and in a lecture environment, potentially unsafe and lacking a base in the progression and right practice of Classical Yoga.

In addition to Willem’s fine advice, and the sound advice of other’s that has been added to your thread, I wanted to add that being an example of Yoga will impact your audience more profoundly then offering numerous details or putting your own body on display as an example of asana. You have an opportunity to share both information about Yoga [B]and[/B] an experience of their own true Selves within the practice of Yoga. We all do, in every meeting with others, by abiding, as we are able, in sattva and non-violence ourselves. As Patanjali shows this in Sutra II,35: [I]By abiding in nonviolence, one’s presence creates an atmosphere in which hostility ceases.[/I]

There is this lovely, infinite continuum of Yoga that we all rest upon. There is something to be learned from a person who is at any point along their path of Yoga, as we have all been there, or are heading there, or are sharing our present spot with others. Do not feel that you must teach what you do not know well yourself: keep the [I]yama[/I] of[I] satya[/I], by keeping your words and your presentation of skills and length/depth of personal study truthful. Keep too the [I]yama[/I] of [I]asteya[/I], but not stealing or coveting praise or admiration by presenting yourself other than you really are. Have confidence in yourself just as you are right now, and teach from this, it is our greatest wealth.

Wherever you find yourself on the path of Yoga, there are others who you can benefit and be in service to, just by being yourself and sharing from here.
[I]
May our thoughts be uplifting, may our words be truthful, and may our actions manifest these qualities in the world as to benefit us all. [/I]

Nichole

#16

When I am asked to lecture on a topic, be it yoga or anything else, I always like to think of it not as lecturing, but as sharing with others.

#17

Do not forget to share your experience!

#18

[QUOTE=Yoga & Unity;30124]Have you tried visiting nearby Yoga center or reading books?[/QUOTE]

of course I visited a lot of yoga centers in the world and real tonnes of books, but I was curious and good student and I went on the journey by myself. Now I’m going to talk to people who are not curios maybe at all…

#19

Thank you all for great postings!

#20

so. I will have 2 hours for the lecture/class and 2 week to get ready. I’m planning to do 30 minutes presentation and tell them about:
-what is yoga
-why it is different from gym exercises
-few words about breathing exercises and yogic diet
-what is meditation and its impact on the mind

After that I will do an intro class, starting with basic breathing technique (nadi shodan or three chamber breath), following by asanas (i will pick them as I go) and shavassana or meditation at the end.

Questions after class…

What do you think?