Yoga Workshops Centered Around Dharma + Example of a Meditation Workshop
Mastering Yoga Workshop Structure: Dharma-Centered Teaching & Meditation Techniques. In workshops that focus on the teachings or dharma, be clear with what you really want to convey. As the dharma presented will likely be a new concept for your students, you need to be clear with your message.
Suggested Structure
What understanding do you want students to have at the end of the meditation workshop? Develop this message in the initial 1/3 of the class, starting with the meaning of the term Dharma. With new learnings—start basic, practice, build on, practice again, build a little bit more on, and then have one final practice.
Example
If you are teaching a beginning meditation workshop, take time to first discuss the basic principles behind meditation. This can be philosophy from a tradition around the world—Buddhist, Hindu, Catholic rosary—and affirmations. You can discuss the science behind meditation. You can then discuss the specific technique of mindfulness that you will have students experience.
The least intimidating technique can be to lead the group through a guided meditation. Consider describing a scene at the beach or students’ favorite location, and have them fully experience being there—tie in all of their senses. Finishing, you can then have them discuss their experiences and have a question and answer session.
Go Deeper
Next, delve further into focused concentrated meditation techniques. This is taking the mindfulness deeper. Conclude by having students share their experiences with one another. The hope is that, afterward, students can apply mindfulness easily on their own.
In this example meditation workshop, teaching skills take up 1/3 of the time, while experiencing occupies 2/3. This is a little different because it is a new learning process, so you are building on the teaching, followed by practice. Students go through this learning process twice to practice.
In Conclusion
As a teacher, know your limitations. Be clear about your intention of the workshop and organize the structure around that intention. All teachers strive to grow and become better, and there is sometimes a tendency to make information in a workshop packed with fantastic depth.
Instead, provide morsels of new information with room for students to practice. Keep yourself from sharing everything that you know. Giving students too much information overwhelms them. Create an environment that allows students to build on their learning. Ideally, students should take away several skills, apply, and practice them to be able to use them on their own!
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Creating community through workshops
https://yogastudiotraining.com/steps-to-a-successful-yoga-workshop-pt-1/
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