Coach Bentz
11-15-2006, 06:30 AM
I had the experience of a private session with Coach Sonnon at the Kappa Instructor Certification seminar.
If you happened to be standing 15' away and watching the session, what you would have seen was me performing the Forest flow as best I could, with Coach Sonnon either demonstrating changes I could make in form, or giving me physical cues and moving me. You might have also seen us suddenly stop doing Forest, and apparently work on something completely different, then go back to the flow. You probably would have also been giggling right with me at often Coach had to help hold me up, with the fatigue and DOMS of just the first day of the certification seminar already taking its toll on me! :D (There's a reason why there are physical prerequisites to an IC!)
You might even have been able to pick up some good tips to improve your own form based on what you saw.
However, the difference between what you saw, and what I experienced, would be a perfect example of the difference between trying to learn CST from a video, learning CST by watching it performed in three dimensions, and getting one-on-one coaching. In this case (and among other things), Coach Sonnon was attempting to bring me to a specific kinesthetic (felt) experience, through the vehicle of the Forest flow, to learn the difference between Prasara and other styles of yoga. There was not much discussion of the difference, it was about feeling the difference.
To borrow a phrase that he used during the seminar, it was like being guided to have a specific kind of internal experience of exercise - something that a good Coach is able to do. There is no way even the best video or article could convey things like this. If you want to accelerate your practice, you'll need feedback from someone who's been to where you want to go.
Did I walk away after an hour with a full understanding of what he was trying to teach me? I can only wish!! :D What I did walk away with is a few pieces of the Prasara puzzle that I was missing before, and a physical memory of the experience. Now its time to get back to work, and see how well I can integrate that experience into my daily practice. At some point, I'll need to return to get feedback on how I'm doing, and refine what I didn't quite get the first time around. It'll be a lot of work, but absolutely worth the effort, for myself as an athlete, and for my students.
If you happened to be standing 15' away and watching the session, what you would have seen was me performing the Forest flow as best I could, with Coach Sonnon either demonstrating changes I could make in form, or giving me physical cues and moving me. You might have also seen us suddenly stop doing Forest, and apparently work on something completely different, then go back to the flow. You probably would have also been giggling right with me at often Coach had to help hold me up, with the fatigue and DOMS of just the first day of the certification seminar already taking its toll on me! :D (There's a reason why there are physical prerequisites to an IC!)
You might even have been able to pick up some good tips to improve your own form based on what you saw.
However, the difference between what you saw, and what I experienced, would be a perfect example of the difference between trying to learn CST from a video, learning CST by watching it performed in three dimensions, and getting one-on-one coaching. In this case (and among other things), Coach Sonnon was attempting to bring me to a specific kinesthetic (felt) experience, through the vehicle of the Forest flow, to learn the difference between Prasara and other styles of yoga. There was not much discussion of the difference, it was about feeling the difference.
To borrow a phrase that he used during the seminar, it was like being guided to have a specific kind of internal experience of exercise - something that a good Coach is able to do. There is no way even the best video or article could convey things like this. If you want to accelerate your practice, you'll need feedback from someone who's been to where you want to go.
Did I walk away after an hour with a full understanding of what he was trying to teach me? I can only wish!! :D What I did walk away with is a few pieces of the Prasara puzzle that I was missing before, and a physical memory of the experience. Now its time to get back to work, and see how well I can integrate that experience into my daily practice. At some point, I'll need to return to get feedback on how I'm doing, and refine what I didn't quite get the first time around. It'll be a lot of work, but absolutely worth the effort, for myself as an athlete, and for my students.