12
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€¦ · So, again before we launch into the conversation I’d like to just recap quickly the speakers that we have

  • Upload
    others

  • View
    2

  • Download
    0

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015 Call 15 - Annie Carpenter€¦ · So, again before we launch into the conversation I’d like to just recap quickly the speakers that we have

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

Page 2: Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015 Call 15 - Annie Carpenter€¦ · So, again before we launch into the conversation I’d like to just recap quickly the speakers that we have

Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015 Call 15 - Annie Carpenter

Page 2 of 12

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

Page 3: Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015 Call 15 - Annie Carpenter€¦ · So, again before we launch into the conversation I’d like to just recap quickly the speakers that we have

Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015 Call 15 - Annie Carpenter

Page 3 of 12

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.

Page 4: Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015 Call 15 - Annie Carpenter€¦ · So, again before we launch into the conversation I’d like to just recap quickly the speakers that we have

Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015 Call 15 - Annie Carpenter

Page 4 of 12

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.

Page 5: Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015 Call 15 - Annie Carpenter€¦ · So, again before we launch into the conversation I’d like to just recap quickly the speakers that we have

Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015 Call 15 - Annie Carpenter

Page 5 of 12

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,

Page 6: Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015 Call 15 - Annie Carpenter€¦ · So, again before we launch into the conversation I’d like to just recap quickly the speakers that we have

Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015 Call 15 - Annie Carpenter

Page 6 of 12

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.

Page 7: Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015 Call 15 - Annie Carpenter€¦ · So, again before we launch into the conversation I’d like to just recap quickly the speakers that we have

Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015 Call 15 - Annie Carpenter

Page 7 of 12

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

Page 8: Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015 Call 15 - Annie Carpenter€¦ · So, again before we launch into the conversation I’d like to just recap quickly the speakers that we have

Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015 Call 15 - Annie Carpenter

Page 8 of 12

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?

Page 9: Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015 Call 15 - Annie Carpenter€¦ · So, again before we launch into the conversation I’d like to just recap quickly the speakers that we have

Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015 Call 15 - Annie Carpenter

Page 9 of 12

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,

Page 10: Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015 Call 15 - Annie Carpenter€¦ · So, again before we launch into the conversation I’d like to just recap quickly the speakers that we have

Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015 Call 15 - Annie Carpenter

Page 10 of 12

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.

Page 11: Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015 Call 15 - Annie Carpenter€¦ · So, again before we launch into the conversation I’d like to just recap quickly the speakers that we have

Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015 Call 15 - Annie Carpenter

Page 11 of 12

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

Page 12: Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015 Call 15 - Annie Carpenter€¦ · So, again before we launch into the conversation I’d like to just recap quickly the speakers that we have

Divine Feminine Yoga Telesummit 2015 Call 15 - Annie Carpenter

Page 12 of 12

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!