PATH: My first class in Yoga was for physical education credit in college. I thought it would be easy, but it turned out to be challenging yet very rewarding. Some years later, my trainer suggested that we attend Yoga class and from that point forward I regularly attended classes offered by a variety of the wonderful teachers in the Triangle area. Wanting to learn more and go deeper into the practice, I enrolled in a 200-hour teacher training program. While it should not have come as a surprise, there was actual classroom teaching required as part of the program! So, I scrambled to create a beginner’s class at the employee fitness center on the campus where I work. What started as two 10-week sessions led to teaching one regular class and one specialty session class each week for about two years. I continue to learn more about Yoga through taking classes, attending workshops, reading books about and related to Yoga, and being an observer of how people move and live. As Yoga has been around through several thousand years of recorded history, the journey to learn about this incredible practice can traverse a lifetime. My path is to continuously learn about and develop my practice of Yoga, and to generously share what I learn with others.

INSPIRATION: The enlightened teachers in our area, the gifted experts who travel to our area offering workshops, but mostly the people I meet who come to class and practice alongside me.

FAVORITES FOR GROUNDING:  A trip to the bookstore, coffee with a friend, a walk in nature, a long weekend.

FAVORITES FOR KICKING IT: Cooking dinner for friends, live music, photography, Acro Yoga

INTENTION: In a world that is hyper-stimulated, my intention on the mat is to center, quiet, and calm.  Then, I seek to take this off the mat as I return to the hyper-stimulated world.

PRACTICE: For me, it is most important to thoughtfully and carefully connect with each posture or pose.  Quality eclipses quantity.

CLASS: Back to Basics, Saturdays, 4:30–5:45 p.m.

Q1. What is Back to Basics?

A1. This is a theme-centered class where we explore the details of the poses. Having a theme that is meaningful off the mat (as well as on it) positions the practice as an integral part of our day-to-day living. We learn about the details of the poses so that we can develop the skill to express ourselves both with precision and with ease.

Q2. Is this a class just for beginners?

A2. This is a class suitable for students new to Yoga, as well as for those who already practice and have some experience. Back to Basics is an approach to the practice of Yoga where we continually develop our poses from the foundation through full expression. We also leverage the wisdom of Yogic philosophy as a corequisite to our study of the physical practice.

Q3. Are the poses in this class just the easy ones?

A3. Some of the poses that appear to be easy may be the most challenging ones to the student. For example, Savasana, the resting pose, requires minimal physical effort but may seem impossible to a person who can’t slow down. In Back to Basics we learn a wide variety of poses covering standing and sitting, hip-opening and folding, balancing, and twisting poses in addition to backbends and inversions.

Q4. Why is there a theme in class?

A4. The use of a theme in class helps us interweave experiences in life with practice on the mat. Some of the skills we develop in Yoga—presence, mindfulness, being calm through controlled breathing—are extremely useful in dealing with life’s challenges. Our time on the mat is often a sweet breakaway from our day-to-day, but it’s also a learning laboratory where we build skills that enhance our ability to enjoy life.

Q5. What should the student expect from this class?

A5. This 75-minute class provides plenty of time to settle in and center, warm up, enjoy a meaningful sequence of poses, and assimilate the practice in a final resting pose. The theme is offered to make the class more interesting, and to enable the student to personalize the experience. Above all, most students leave the class feeling a little, if not a lot better than when they arrived.

See Courtney demo pincha mayurasana (forearm balance) in Lauren Sacks's Anusara Inspired Yoga class: