Blog
December 2008
There is an exciting new yoga venture starting in Savannah. Brent Martin, who has been running Ashram Savannah for about a year, has been talking with a group of teachers about turning the Ashram into a cooperative effort. The goal is to create a space where teachers and students create a community dedicated to the practice of yoga on and off the mat. Brent describes his concept of the co-op well on the Ashram Blog.
From the teachers' perspective, the co-op offers the teachers an opportunity to rent studio space at a reasonable price. As long as the teachers can bring in a minimum number of students, they should be able to cover their rent and take home proceeds from the class. Teaching members also get to attend all of the classes at the Ashram for free, and participate in the operation of the co-op in exchange for a say in the decision-making processes.
Student members will get access to some of the best teachers and yoga events in Savannah at reduced prices. The co-op is also planning to have "Open Studio" times when the doors to the studio are open to paying members to come and do their own practice. The idea is targeted at Ashtangis and others who have a strong personal practice but want to practice with their peers or just want a clean, quiet space (free from kids, cats, dogs, laptops, piles of laundry and all of the other things that might make a good excuse not to practice). This is like a Mysore practice but there is no formal "teacher" - though one of the Ashram teachers will be there to open the door and practice or just hang out.
Starting in January I will be teaching at the yoga co-op at the Ashram on Thursday nights from 5:30 - 6:45 pm.
For more information check out the Ashram website.
If you've been reading my blog, you've probably noticed that I am a bit of a yoga workshop junkie. As I was looking back on my posts this morning I realized that my last five blog entries have been about my experience in various training courses and workshops in the last few months. And the journey continues...I have just been accepted into Mark White's MBody Teacher Certification Program in Jacksonville, Florida. The Baptiste Power Vinyasa style of yoga (which is what Mark teaches) is a lot like Ashtanga, so the practice is somewhat familiar to my body, but challenging in new ways.
The TCP is a 200 hour certification program, similar to the training I completed at the Asheville Yoga center in 2006. Between now and May I will be heading down to Jax for nine three-day weekends to complete the program.
Why would I be interested in a second 200 hour certification???...Very simply, I am hoping that Mark's program will take my practice and teaching to the next level. My friend Mindy just completed the program (which was her second 200 hr cert as well) and she was blown away by the experience. From what I hear from the students, the program is unique in the way it strives to teach students to find their authentic self and express this through their teaching. Mark accepts a very small number of students into the program (there were 10 in Mindy's class) so I should also get a pretty intense learning experience, in contrast to programs with 25+ students. I'll keep posting as the journey unfolds...
