1. Elena, what does your class planning look like? Logistically, how you keep track of the abundance of books, quotes, ideas, class plans, and notes when class/workshop planning? i.e. what works best for you, Digital or Analog?
ANALOG!!!! Sometimes i do keep a note or two on my phone – but i always transfer it to a handwritten note. I have dozens of invaluable notebooks, dating back to the late 1990s, with treasures and teachings and titles of books that might never be written.
To plan classes, I come at it from one of a few angles. A reading might move me (lately Rudolf Steiner and Red Hawk), or a pose instruction from one of my teachers might serve as the catalyst. Sometimes it’s a poem, or an image, or a challenge in my morning kriya that feeds an entire class. It depends on the day.
2. How do you keep the balance from teaching from the heart/intuition vs. planning thoughtfully? Your clases are so seemless and fluid, have you ever completely changed your class plan in the moment?
I almost always change my plan. I try to plan as intellectually and logically as possible, and that’s the boundary that affords me the greatest freedom. Most recently my entire class at the Eiffel Tower was mapped to the moment and then the weather got super cold and the entire class had to change – and i was teaching in French. That was wild. And gave me something so new and delicious of myself.
3. Elena, your teaching is such an art. How do you get inspired? What are your go–to sources of inspiration?
Spending an hour with my kid will always give me some kernel of wisdom. His heart is so big. My books, especially my oldest notebooks from when I sat with Dr. Douglas Brooks a lot – his teachings inform so much of what I do to this day.
4. Elena, you weave so beautifully together teaching technique/alignment with a spiritual experience. Often we get caught up as teacher teaching a class based on “what I want the students to learn” instead of “the experience I want them to walk away having.” What is your perspective on this?
Just remember that this is *their* class, not yours…