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Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015 Call 15 - Annie Carpenter
Page 1 of 12
Jane: Well, hello everyone and welcome to the Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015:
Birthing Ourselves Into Light!
I’m Jane Meinz one of your co cohosts from divinefeminineyoga.com and I am delighted to
be here for this call with Annie Carpenter, for this conversation on the art of mentoring. We
will be talking about how we as teachers and conscious healers really develop that art of
balancing compassion with the needs of our students and acknowledging where they are at
in their process; sometimes needing to hold their little tootsie feet to the fire as we perhaps
challenge them a bit to more awareness and awakening. And as you all know from your own
teaching experience it can be a really delicate dance tracking with the student, knowing
when to challenge, when to be soft; when to let them struggle and not to step in and so on
and so on. So, this feels like a pretty juicy and interesting conversation and I’m really looking
forward to hearing Annie’s wisdom on this topic. It’s always good to learn new things.
So, again before we launch into the conversation I’d like to just recap quickly the speakers
that we have had so far today. We had 3 speakers, we’ll have 3 speakers today; the first one
was Megha Butterheim who intimately shared her profound journey through her process
with her stillborn death of her daughter Sarah Grace. Very touching. And the call that I did
actually right before this one was with Beth Shaw. She was sharing her expertise on having
or creating a yoga business and some of the pitfalls, the do's and the don'ts.
Now, tomorrow we have a big line up of women speakers. We have 4 speakers. First one is
Susun Weed. She’ll be speaking on menopause. And we have Eve Agee. She will be speaking
about how to become a transformational coach. We have Carla Giambrone on how to
prioritize self-care and then we button it all up with Priti Robyn Ross on how to actually
develop a daily practice of self-care. So, that’s great! Tomorrow there are 2 speakers on the
topic of self-care, especially for women.
I also want to remind you that all of the calls you can listen to for free on our website for 48
hours after the call. You can go to our scheduled page; we also call it the Moon Pass page to
get all those calls. And that’s yogamoonpass.com. And for those of you that would like to
own the entire 25 speaker downloadable calls and have them permanently in your library;
we’ve made that option available through the Moon Pass. Along with that we also have
everything transcribed which can just be really great to read trough and listen and read at
the same time. And again you can find that at yogamoonpass.com.
For those of you who are yoga teachers or other conscious healers, who actually are soul
openers or starting a business, thinking about starting a business, we have designed the Sun
Pass and made that available for you and I highly recommend checking that out. It’s pact
Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015 Call 15 - Annie Carpenter
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with many learning components and online program, a wonderful live retreat, lots and lots
of bonuses to support you in designing your business, refreshing your business and teaching
you how to have a sustainable, thriving business. So, please do check that out at
yogasunpass.com. And we are offering both the Moon and Sun Pass at special discounts
while the Telesummit is running.
I also want to give you a heads up about Facebook page; go to
facebook.com/divinefeminineyoga; that’s our Facebook page name. Annie will be
responding to your comments and questions after the call today or over the next day or so
for those of you that may be listening to the recording later. Just make sure that when you
go there that you’ll see a big green blotch that has Annie’s face and my face and that is the
one that you want to comment under, so don’t make a general comment on the page. Keep
your comments and your questions under the topic with the speaker. That way you can get
in on that topic and she’ll know where to respond to you. And we’d love to hear from you
and I know Annie would be interested in responding to you as well.
So, let’s introduce Annie Carpenter! I just want to give you a little bit of background
information so you’ll know what she is all about. She is, I love this whole title, she is known
as the “teachers’ teacher”. And Annie is the creator of SmartFLOW yoga where she marries
the mindful movement with compassionate wakeful alignment. And she creates practices
that are advanced and challenging, yet also at the same time, they are safe and playful. She’s
been around for a long time in the industry. She’s been practicing yoga since the seventies.
She has worked with the internationally known Martha Graham Company back in the 1980’s
and continues to this day to be a dedicated student and what she calls a “geek” for anatomy,
evolutionary movement, meditation and classical philosophy. Annie is also the author of a
CD on restorative yoga entitled “RelaxDEEPLY”. She also has a DVD that was produced by
Yoga Journal called “Yoga for Total Back Care” and she is also author of several SmartFLOW
manuals. She contributes regularly to Yoga Journal and she has been an influential teacher
trainer since 2003. She lives in California but also teaches globally!
So, Annie, wonderful bio there! Welcome and welcome to the Telesummit and all of our
listeners, so glad that you’re here today!
Annie: Hello Jane! It’s my pleasure to be here with you!
Jane: Great! So, let’s launch into this topic of the art of mentoring. What say you about
that?
Annie: You know, mentoring is something that I think in some point in our lives any of us
who are teachers or really leaders in any form at a certain point you are a mentor whether
you ask to be a mentor or not. And I think I sort of fell upon it, fell into it, I guess, for better
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word. Without really knowing that that was something that would happen to me and it has
happened, quite a few years back now. But I think what happens is that as we are steadily
committed to our own path, we draw people to us and whether that’s actually by being a
teacher or again, just being a leader in one chosen field, is kind of like bush walking through
the woods and when we cut a clear path that seems to be leading somewhere, that’s helpful
or even happy, maybe it’s the best word happy, then people want to follow the path that we
created. They trust that we have walked this path. Whether with you or without you, it
doesn’t even matter, but that we continue to walk this path. It seems to be helping us be
better people, be happier people, be more fully alive, fully truly are what we’re capable of
being. So, I think here regardless of what are, what we love to do, then we become mentors
by staying on our path, by cutting a clear pathway. Others will look and say to themselves
“Oh, I want to walk that path, too! That looks like a nice path that Annie has created”. I’m
just delighted and grateful that again without really intending to create this path it seems
that I have and it seems that the path that is helpful and useful for others. And I’m just
eternally grateful for that!
Jane: Do you see, what popped in my head was; do you think there is a difference between
being a teacher and being a mentor?
Annie: Yeah, I do. I think part of it we might just say is the level of trust and that comes
from I think time put in ones own, I’m just going to call it practice; for me it’s from the
practice of yoga and meditation. Really all the movement are to begin with. But also they
come the practice for being a teacher. So, I think if one is a good teacher, and we can talk
more about what that means in a moment, but if one is a good teacher for many years then I
think one graduates, again organically, to becoming a mentor. I think it’s the level of trust, I
think it’s the capacity to guide unerringly and full of faith. I think faith is a big part of what
this role is. If I should walk down this path then say because this is the kind of faith that one
gains through practice, through years and years and years of having practice. It’s not that
sort of Eureka or crazy. It is sort of that thing that happens to one. In my view this is
something that one gains by staying on to a chosen path and again seeing that it works,
trusting that it will continue to work each time we step on the path again. And with that
level of faith then we can, you know… without hesitation, without reservation, share the
path that with others.
Jane: So, as I hear that then one can step out as a teacher but as we stay connected to our
own practice and in a way if I could paraphrase as we become maybe a little more wise, we
become a little more seasoned, and some of us come to that sooner than others; there is
that way that we build that trust with our students and become that mentor, that leader in a
way. Them seeing us consistently in our practice and perhaps being around us, and being in
our classes they see the changes and differences in their own bodies and their own lives.
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Annie: Yes, absolutely! And I think you mentioned a very good point, Jane! I’m going to
paraphrase that again. The idea that a lot of time we can spend in a practice, for lack of a
better word, is spinning our wheels. It’s the ability to kind of open our hearts enough and to
let the practice crack it open even more deeply. To know that somehow, however shattered
we may feel or even anxious we may feel in the moment of transformation. I mean we do
have to stick our feet in the fire. You know, we do have to dive in and not necessarily know
where we’re going to land. And to the degree that we allow ourselves to be cracked open
and transformed, it’s alchemical; you know to the degree that we let that happen we
develop, to say, you know, the practice changes us. I do think you can walk down many
paths for the path to see and not be changed. But if you’re willing to walk the path and let it
have an effect on you, let the karmic results occur to you and with great faith and knowing
that you are going to come out to the other side changed, and changed for the better, which
may not be the change you expect! That’s the scary part; what’s going to happen?
Jane: Yeah, let’s be really clear about that; sometimes the end result is not what we
planned!
Annie: Exactly! But, if you are with a teacher or a mentor who has been through that and
has allowed herself to be surprised and delighted by the change, to be willing to let it do
unto us what it will, because we trust the path. Then I think that our students and our
mentees will follow their path, as well will be less fearful more willing to open up and let the
process affect them.
Jane: So, part of being a teacher, a good teacher, then and a really good teacher / mentor
is appropriately allowing our process to show in front of our students, then. Sort of being our
process, wherever that is, in front of our students and not trying to be something different, a
made up version of ”Oh, this is what a teacher is supposed to look like!”
Annie: Yes, decidedly not that!
Jane: It is funny because I coached several women who will say “Oh, boy, my body doesn’t
look like the typical yoga body, I’m a little overweight and I’m a little nervous about building
my classes” and it’s like WOW, just be yourself and your body style. So, what do you have to
say about that?
Annie: Well, you know, I don’t know who likes to hear that, but my problem is the
opposite; I’m just too damn skinny! And, you know what? It is what it is and what matters to
me is when I wake up in the morning how do I feel. Do I have the energy to show up? Do I
have the desire to move forward without getting caught up in my desire? You know, it’s so
not what we look like. And you know that curves as the years go on and we watch our bodies
change, and we watch our faces change and we watch our hair go gray and all the rest of it.
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You know, you just see how little that stuff matters. And as teachers I think it is really
important to be patient. And to know that I really can’t teach a 35 year old that all of this
amazing beauty is going to fade, it’s going to turn into something different. And while a big
point I may see the shift as even more beautiful, as even more radiant. You know, it may not
feel like that as a process but I think we all go through that and I think, you know, now I’m in
my late 50’s and I presume I’ll go through that in my 60ies and my 70ies and you know and
however long I stay in this body. You know, this is a letting go process. It’s knowing that it’s
going to happen. We have to go through that fire. And trusting that what we define as
beauty in our 20ies, 30ies, whatever it is; that goes away! And the new definition of beauty
is so much more interesting and deep and so much more evolved. There’s so much more
there that has that little to do with that outer layer that we think is so important, right?
Jane: Yeah, we are definitely works of art as we create and recreate ourselves and
discover. Great!
Annie: Wine, good wine! Let us go in that cellar for a long time!
Jane: It’s like good wine, that’s right! Good analogy! So, what do you have to say about… I
have too many thoughts there, I have to slow down for a minute, I had so many things I
wanted to ask you and they all bubbled right into my head at one time. Yeah, that is
excitement! What do you say to teachers when, you know, maybe when we’re either in a
transition or we’ve maybe lost touch with who we are or something when we have doubts?
How do you address that?
Annie: Yeah, that’s a good one! And, I don’t know that there’s one answer because I think
one of the things that is much important as a teacher or as a mentor is to steer away from
knowing that there is one way to do anything or you know, we can bring this point up right
away…. that there is no one truth that we’re all aiming to get to. And I think as we embody
that and we try to encourage our students away from the idea of arriving at a point or
maybe we can define this by looking at the idea of right and wrong, a good and bad, a truth
or not truth. I think when we’re lost we are in a period of overwhelmed and we really find
ourselves seeking the truth, the right path for me that I will step on and it will be the right
path for now and forever, you know. Here come the trumpets! You know, it’s not like that!
And so as we are able to be setting with our students, our friends, our lovers in moments of
anxiety and let’s just call it confusion, and be willing to be present when there’s not, when
there’s not a clear answer, when there’s not a clear right passage, then I think the comfort in
the confusion, the comfort in, the word I love to use is, in the inquiry of “Oh, what now. And
what now? And what now?” And as that gets more comfortable then the obstacles that are
present become very, very clear, and the stuff that seemed so giant and so impossible to
deal with, to even be with, become these little things that are manageable. And, oh well,
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let’s start with this; what will it take for me to get through today? To get through this hour?
To get through this moment? To get through this chi, this fear, this doubt. And if we could
just find that as one small thing and be with that, then it’s not so insurmountable. It’s the
idea of “Oh, I have to find the correct answer now!” That’s just overwhelming! It’s
overwhelming to me as a teacher, much less my students. That doesn’t do any good. And
that, you know, we well get back to sort of my yoga terms, that’s the wanting to either jump
into the future where everything is together or be stuck in the past where things used to be
together. And no, we’re here now and it’s messy for us or muddy or you know it feels like a
hurricane. Now, just let it come, you know. And we just dig in a little deeper, and we get our
support system with us, whether that’s your teacher, or your friend or your family. Or maybe
it’s your aloneness if it’s a support for you. It is [dealable 0:20:41]. But, be with it, it’s not
going to get any worse when you’re with it. It seems to get worse when you turn yourself
into else.
Jane: So, when you mentor your students, Annie, what… Give us a peek behind the curtain.
What are you doing or being in there, when you are mentoring your students?
Annie: I think what it feels like to me, and I believe what it feels like to them is that I am
seeing them as unerringly as possible. I’m seeing them. I’m truly seeing them. I’m seeing
them in the perfection that they are that they forget about, I’m seeing them as clearly when
they are in complete success, in complete understanding. And I’m seeing them when they
are completely lost, and shaken and falling down. And I hope that what they’re feeling as I
see them is that no matter what, I love them. And I think that that is a different experience
then what many of us have had over the years. In our, perhaps in our successes, with them
that was envy or jealousy. Perhaps in our failures we’ve been met with derision or you know
anger or disappointment. From within and from without. So, I think to be with someone’s
soul and really see them and not have a change in the way I love them. It’s not that I need to
love them more in failure or less in success. I need to be steady; I need to continue to see
them, so that they can see themselves. I’m just, you know… My joke was that teachers are
basically an alarm clock. Wake up, wake up, wake up! But we are that alarm clock, not with,
you know, alarm but with open eyes and open arms.
Jane: So you really… I like what you say there. But you keep that steady, steadiness of
seeing, I’m air quoting as far what “seeing” our students implies, as far as seeing the divinity
in them and seeing them as this pure spirit, pure energy and seeing them for who they are,
whether they are wildly successful, for example, in a posture, whether they are falling down
on the floor because they can’t hold the posture. So, seeing distantly the who of who they
are, the true Namaste.
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Annie: That’s exactly the work! And of course, one hopes that that feeling of love and
acceptance that I am offering as best I can in this moment, that then they of course, want to
embody that for themselves. And when that starts to happen with some steadiness, then of
course they can become the teacher themselves. But, because it’s only by learning how to
accept ourselves through the ups and the downs and the shifts, and the doubt and the fear
and great try, that we begin to recognize this staidness underneath those giant shifts and
waves and changes. We in fact are seeing what’s underneath all of that; the staidness, the
steady, ever shining light that isn’t affected, by again success or failure, fear or joy. It’s that, I
see that and with that they will see that regardless of what’s happening. They learn to be
with that within themselves. And then hopefully we all can be that with everyone in
everyone we touch.
Jane: And so when you… so, let’s come back from up behind the curtain then and bring
that out into when you’re actually working with your students, you know that dance that
happens between, you know, how do you do that dance of you know being present with
someone with where they’re at and also at the same time either coaching them or
challenging them a little bit. How do you handle that in your practice?
Annie: That’s a really good question. I think the one thing we all need to learn for ourselves
and essentially as teachers and mentors is what does overwhelm look like? How do I know
when a student is approaching what we might define overwhelmed? What does it look like?
What does it feel like? And I feel the overwhelm, I mean you know, we can look at the outer
things that hopefully we’ve all learned to identify things like did the breath get cut short or
choppy or held. Do the eyes look sort of beady or heart, you know, is there a quirk in the
jaw. Those things are obviously essential first things to look for. But I think if we start to look
at this for the bigger picture, what does overwhelm look like, we can get in a little bit
deeper, and begin to see overwhelm as… even before it happens. So, what might project
when overwhelm might happen. Just like in you meditation process, sometimes when you’re
really quiet and can feel your mind get restful before the thought even comes, you see what
I mean? Oh-oh I want to run away, it’s just too quiet and nice here! I need some drama! And
so, I think that what happens, especially with students that have been with us for many
years, we know them so well that we can kind of predict what might be the things that
create overwhelm and how to recognize that just as it’s beginning if you will be willing to
help them with the overwhelme. And the kinds of things that I think we can look for are, not
unlike what we look at when we look at the central nervous system and what trips the
central nervous system over into the sympathetic side. And I think everyone knows these
ideas that are we in fight, or flight or freeze. And I hope everybody recognizes that we added
freeze into that, it’s now trio, it used to just be fight or flight and now we’ve added the
freeze button. And I think we can see that happening to our students if we look for those
three things… Let me see if I can be a little bit more detailed about that. So, if you see your
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student kind of pushing too hard into really wanting something, the desire is so great that
the three dimensional understanding of what’s actually happening goes away. In a pose
here’s what it looks like; if they want that leg so high that they’ve forgotten this thing called
a foot. If they want to balance so hard that the whole body has gotten rigid. So the desire
has overwhelmed the capacity to really see and sense the whole person. So, that we might
call fight. Flight would look like someone wanting to run away, wanting to escape, where
actually what we see is a dullness, so overwhelm has gotten so big that they’ve in effect
given up. And the face gets quite dull and the normal level of effort that we see in a healthy
body working towards something goes away and it gets quite dull. The kind of pinkness,
depending from the skin tone, the feeling of circulation and aliveness gets quite dull, and
that would be a sort of running away from the escape. And then we have freeze, and it’s just
that there’s this cardio right like a deer head light and the whole body goes into the freeze-
frame that looks like it’s not moving, it might never move again, and that’s when the
overwhelm I think is the most complete. And if you have never seen a student do that, it can
be a little bit frightening. And that’s the person you have to be the most careful with. That’s
the freeze-frame moment where we have to be very, very gentle of how we coach and bring
them out of that freeze-frame. So, what we’re doing is moving away from the sympathetic
nervous system, teaching them how to arrive at the parasympathetic nervous system where
healing takes place. Where we can be fully ourselves, were we can know ourselves fully and
be of use and vital and creative. We cannot be that when we’re on the edge.
Jane: Wow! So…
Annie: Was that too much?
Jane: No, that was great! I like that you added freeze to it! I don’t believe I have heard that.
I just pretty much heard the fight or flight, but I like that you add the freeze to it.
Annie: Well, I can’t take credit for that, Jane. I can’t remember when it was, but I think it’s
in the last 15 years. And in fact, some people in the medical field think that that’s why so
many women have the kind of migraine headaches that you know, keep you home in the
dark for a day or two. They consider that the nervous system went overwhelm.
Jane: Very interesting!
Annie: Yeah!
Jane: So, let’s snoop down that trail a little bit more. So, when you have someone that in
either one of those 3; a fight response, a flight response or a freeze response. How do you
gauge to best support them? What’s your process as far as… Do I just focus on stabilizing?
Do I be soft? Do I be affirming? Or can I push this person; challenge him a little bit into the
next thing? How do you do that?
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Annie: Well, I wish there was more about a clearer system for this. I have to say, for me,
and I get it quicker than I used to, but for me it really is having the whole process of teaching
be about an inquiry, as opposed to trying to get somewhere. And I can say a little bit more
about that in the smartFLOW message that my students and I work with. Everything we
teach is designed to be entered into as an exploration, as opposed to everybody needs to
get to this pose and here’s what it looks like. While there, we look at the movement
towards, and mind you I’m a lover of the classical poses, I’m not trying to deny that they are
not helpful; they are. But if we’re looking at a classical pose for example or a classical
intention if you’re working more into after fear or a meditative art it’s the idea of as I move
towards this, what do I learn about myself? And if I learn, if I move towards this classical aim
if you will, what happens to my ability to know myself? And is it as important for me to move
towards this thing that I think might be helpful? Is it also important for me to remember
where I came from? So, in my world, we call that the Efforting and it’s coupled with the
returning to center. And so, however far afield we go, you know, it’s like when your 17 and
you couldn’t wait to leave home Like me! “I got to go to New York, mom!” You know, I could
do that because I knew I could come back and I would be loved and accepted. I felt this
freedom, my wings felt giant! Because I knew I had it now. So, we create this safety via
exploration and the degree of that exploration and the seed of exploration we encourage
our students to determine on their own. It’s not my rage, it’s not my goal. It’s the path that I
have walked on numerous times, over decades. So, I know the path. But, how quickly you go,
how far you go, whether you go at all, is up to the individual student. So, my idea is to
present these 3 pathways, for me 3, which I now how to walk down very safely, very surely
and by my students on the path. But always invite them to pause on the path and check in,
but perhaps to return to the starting point at the beginning of the path and they be sited out
today. And those who feel ready give them the kind of encouragement, even push to stay
awake as they continue moving on the path. I have no agenda; I have no more celebrations
for those who make it to the top of the peek than I do for those who never actually left the
starting gate, as long as they’re present with themselves.
Jane: How do you help your students actually know that difference between challenging
themselves and when they’re pushing?
Annie: Well, I think, in general we have a tendency to be either the one who are driven by
the sense of “I’m kind of never enough and I never will be enough, and oh my God, if I go I
don’t have enough time to do everything” that sort of person. What in yoga we call it rajasic
personality. Very up and creative, usually. Very, very active and creative, but tend to kind of
go too far, too fast. Then we have what in yoga we call thomasic that’s sort of more
lethargic, “Well, you know, we could do this, what’s the rush”. And I think for the most that
we can see that pretty quickly. And so, it’s that I respond to that. And sometimes they
surprise you, sometimes the lethargic ones, just head out like a bat outta hell. But, yeah,
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some of them need of a little fire and at that moment then I might bring on some cuing
whether that’s again in a pose or in a pranayama sequence or just in a mentorship meeting
with the student where I might quick fire ask questions; “Yeah, what happened to this? Oh,
and what happened to that when you did this?” and kind of wake them up a little bit more
actively. Whereas the ones who are moving too quickly, because moving quickly and being
more pushy, then I might remind them to pause, just to take a breath and if you will, if you
want to stay with the true image of the path; pause, let each thought [0:37:28.0-0:37:29.6].
What are you actually creating with what you’re doing right now? What’s the effect? Do you
like that thought? Does it help? And then in the next moment, what is the effect of what
you’re creating? So in this day we get them to see how powerful they are and we
understand the laws of karma and one the most important goals of yoga anyways.
Everything I do has an effect.
Jane: And how do you do, can you give a sample of how you do some of your actual
languaging with whether you’re in a private or in a class, how do you do that?
Annie: So, what we do in smartFLOW, whether we’re teaching a simple pose, or the most
challenging pose, we try to include in every sentence that we seek, something that includes
a verb and a direction. So, we take like 3 words in a sentence; move this in a direction. But in
that simplicity we also have another sentence that couples together that asks you to move in
the opposite direction. So, let’s say…So, as you twist, as you roll your chest open to the right
can you drive the left thighbone back to the left, which would in effect take you out of it so
that each exploration of a pose is a true dance, is a true movement into, coupled with a
movement out of, and so that each person gets to decide how much of the movement into,
which we call the Effort and it is balanced by the movement out of which we call the return
to center. So, rather than say “Move your chest until it faces this side wall” we say “Begin to
breathe your chest open to the right and as you do, exhale your left side towards the left, so
it takes you out if it”. So, that each person will move the right amount for them today, not
try to make a pose that looks like any picture, info-book or magazine. It’s an inquiry, it’s an
exploration. We invite each student to find their balance and we knew that at the level of
each of the joints that are being affected quite literally, we want each joint to be balanced.
But we also want to have a feeling of balance that we’re moving into without forgetting
about where we came from. It’s all inquiry. Everything we do is inquiry.
Jane: That’s really beautiful, Annie! Just that little tiny example you gave, I find that very
inspiring! The languaging; how it’s very process oriented and the meaning of it is defined by
each student individually. How that looks vs. like you say giving an end goal in the
languaging. So, yeah, that you encourage the person to be looking inward and inquiring what
does that look like when I move in that direction.
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Annie: Maybe even what does that feel like? And what does balance feel like to me? That’s
something we can take off the mat. That’s something that we can take into our
relationships. What is balance here?
Jane: Right!
Annie: We can’t take second warrior of the mat! That’s just a pose! It’s inquiry into
balance, the inquiry into wholeness, the inquiry into what’s that for me in this moment.
What is down the path? How can I create this condition so that I shine brightly?
Jane: I have kind of a last question for you, but mmm… let’s see if I can phrase this; do you
notice a difference between if you have a class of let’s say 8 students vs. a class of 20-25
students? Does your languaging and sequencing, does that work equally effectively?
Annie: It’s funny you ask this! Well, just to be clear, it is such a luxury and so sweet to have
a smaller class. I have to say, a lot of my classes have 40-50+ students in them. So, I have to
say that’s why I developed this languaging. If I only have 5 people, or even 10 people and I
can have my eyes glued on every single one of them, then I might even consider being a little
stronger with my language. But if I can’t keep my eye on all of these people in a room, and
that’s what you get at conferences and festivals sometimes, and if my language isn’t very,
very clear and precise then I can maybe move people toward injury as opposed to greater
health and well-being. I certainly don’t want that. You know, years back when I was invited
to start training classes on-line because I was so afraid of it! Because I couldn’t see the
students, I couldn’t see the effect I was creating with my languaging, with trying to be
inspiring. And it was a very exciting moment for me, you know, just starting to happen out
there, you know, the on-line steaming. And I felt used to seeing if my language is working or
not, I can see if the students get what I’m trying to get them to feel. They are right in front of
me. So, that’s why I started creating this language that was much more about an inquiry
than about an achievement, than about a specific shape or pose. And I think that, well my
view is that we have the best possibility for creating health and well-being and self-
awareness that is positive and accepting and loving with this sort of inquiry based process as
opposed to let’s try to get somewhere. That specificity. I’m all about being deliberate and
specific inside of the realm of inquiry. So, at this point, I think my system is very similar
whether I got you know, one person in the room or a 150 people in the room.
Jane: So, Annie, how can people get connected with you then, and this really beautiful
work that you are doing around languaging?
Annie: Actually, Jane, come see me; I teach in California, both in San Francisco and Los
Angeles. The best thing to do is to come to my website which is anniecarpenter.com and if
you are that interested in training I got trainings this year in Sydney, Australia and Los
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Angeles and San Francisco; you can see all of this on the website. And I love hearing from
people; so if you’re a student I’d love to hear from you. If you are a friend of yoga and love
to breathe and stay present just email me at [email protected]
Jane: Great! So, it was really, really fun talking with you. Annie, being here; I just looked at
the clock and realized I went a bit over, I’m hoping that was OK with you and the listeners. It
was just really interesting! So, thank you for the time you took in sharing with us and thank
you audience for hanging in here and continuing to listen!
Annie: Yes, thank you! And to you, Jane, thank you!
Jane: Oh, you’re welcome, it was really a pleasure! And listeners, and Annie you, too, don’t
forget to post any questions or comments that you have for Annie on our Facebook page
facebook.com/divinefeminineyoga and my guess is she would be happy to answer any and
all questions that you have. And again, just a reminder that these calls are available 48 hours
after the calls for free, so don’t forget about that. And also for those of you that want to
download all of the calls, have the transcript permanently go to yogamoonpass.com and if
you are a teacher, a conscious healer in a solo entrepreneurship and you want to build a
really wonderful, beautiful, fun, sustainable and thriving business for yourself, I highly
recommend investigating the Sun Pass. It could be the thing that really opens you up in your
business for you can make that big impact on people, like Annie is here. It’s a course, there’s
a live retreat, there’s just so much in it. So, go look at the page and see if it fits for you. And
you can go to yogasunpass.com. And again, another reminder to go to anniecarpenter.com
and that’s spelled A N N I E C A R P E N T E R, anniecarpenter.com and find out more about
her teacher training, where she’s maybe holding her class, find out more information. She
was very generous in giving her email address which was [email protected]. If you
want to drop her a comment or question there; go for it! So, Annie, do you have any last
words to the listeners?
Annie: Just that I hope you find a way to really have great faith in your path!
Jane: That is great; have great faith in your path. Great little words, pearls of wisdom there
Annie. So, thank you again for being here, thank you listeners for being here and everybody
have a good rest of the day! Namaste to everyone! Thank you!
Annie: Namaste! Thank you!
Jane: Bye bye!
Annie: Bye!