March 23
by Donna Farhi
“What does this new pedagogy translate to in real terms in the learning space? For the teacher, it can translate to teaching with an underlying sense of ease, relaxation and clear intention. For the student, it can translate to a liberating framework where the structure that is offered is no longer definitive, and where forms, postures and practices become suggestions that can act as springboards for new iterations and new expressions. Together it feels like a sustainable friendship welded by a desire to know what yoga is . . . and can be.”
~ Donna Farhi, from The Yoga Teacher’s Survival Guide
It is with great excitement that I welcome the arrival of The Yoga Teacher’s Survival Guide: Social Justice, Science, Politics, and Power, edited by Theo Wildcroft and Harriet McAtee. This book is a collaboration of some of the most seminal thinkers in our community; Peter Blackaby, Jivana Heyman and Jules Mitchell, to name a few, and is intended to provide a vital resource to help yoga teachers honour yoga’s sources and survive and thrive in the modern yoga industry.
The chapter that I have written (and offered as a donated service to the project), addresses the archaic pedagogic models that have dominated the yoga tradition (and now the yoga industry) that have contributed to so much abuse and harm in our community. But more importantly, I offer an alternative “heutagogic[1]” model for teaching and learning that embraces shared-inquiry, increased capacity for skill-building and the student’s self-sovereignty.
You can get a sneak pre-view of my contribution by clicking this link. Please note, the chapter is not downloadable. If there is one new book to add to your yoga library this year, consider The Yoga Teacher’s Survival Guide. As a contributor, I learned so much through having the opportunity to read the galleys of the other authors. There is, quite simply, nothing else out there that cuts so close to the bone of what is happening in Yoga Land and how we can change it.
The Art of Teaching Is ComingI am continuing that work in my online The Art of Teaching course, offering teachers the opportunity not only to embrace a shared-inquiry model for teaching, but also to acquire the skills needed to confidently craft and deliver their work through this modern lens. I hope you will join an already rich group of registrants from over 12 different countries in our next training which begins with the first live support circle, May 9th, 2024 (NZT).
[1] Heutagogy (based on the Greek word “self”), is defined as the study of self-determined learning. It is a student-centered instructional strategy that emphasizes the development of autonomy, capacity and capability.
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