Full Name: Kathryn “Scarlett” Rustemeyer
UC Email: [email protected]
College: College-Conservatory of Music
Major: Ballet
Title of Project: A Yogic Journey: Flowing towards Leadership
Thematic Area: Leadership
Expected Project Start Date: August 20, 2015
Expected Project End Date: February 20, 2015
Abstract:
This project will be a head-first leap into the world of yoga. Although I have taken numerous yoga classes in the past and find myself passionate about it, this experience will springboard me into what it really means to practice yoga as a leader: to help others through my deepening knowledge and experience in the field, and to ultimately instruct and guide an infinite amount of people through their struggles and hardships as a certified yoga instructor. With the hopes of becoming a yoga teacher stashed in my back pocket for years, the experience of actually becoming one will have a humbling and profound significance in my personal realm. In the past few years especially I have felt deep, sporadic bouts of anxiety and sometimes experience panic attacks. On a personal level I’ve noticed that yoga serves as a strong antidote to my anxiety and helps me find a calm, soothing center point where I can focus my energy when bogged down by an extreme mood. This personal need for yoga to stay mentally healthy will in turn help me assist others when they experience similar symptoms and need a way out.
My yogic project will entail quite an in-depth and rigorous amount of studying—including at-home pre-intensive study, live yoga practice at the intensive for twelve hours a day for ten days, and post-intensive work including doing 35 volunteer hours, student teaching 80 yoga classes, keeping a personal journal for 40 days, doing a 20 hour meditation course, teaching a workshop, participating in a 160 hour workshop series, and getting CPR certified. In total, this course will envelop me in at least ____ hours of preparation, research, direct contact, and reflection.
Here is the exact breakdown of the hours involved:
Pre-intensive study: At least 80 hours of reading
Intensive (in-person): 120 hours
Student teaching: 80 hours
Journaling: 30 hours
Meditation Course: 20 hours
Meditation Teaching: 20 hours
Workshop Series: 160 hours
CPR Course: 8 hours
Volunteering: 35 hours
Total: approximately 553 hours
The thought of embarking on this journey is overwhelmingly exciting. Now that I’ve explained the quantity of time I’ll be spending on this experience, it’s now time to acknowledge and explain the quality of such activities and studies. The pre-intensive readings will undoubtedly benefit me in many ways. With 1600 pages of in-depth research including yoga anatomy, hands-on anatomy coloring, books about meditation, theory of yoga, history of yoga, and more, my brain is sure to be buzzing with new, valuable information that will further benefit me throughout this process.
Next, the in-class format will perhaps be the most intense portion of this experience. With twelve hours a day, broken into 8 hours in class and 4 hours of home study, this portion will surely bring me much closer to other aspiring yogis and yoginis, as well as with my yoga mentor. As Darryl, the head of KCFitnessLink Yoga described, this experience will be “eating, sleeping, and breathing yoga for two weeks.” With opening yoga practices to start the day, followed by several class discussions, seminars, and hands-on instructor “lab” training each day, I will be fully immersed in the culture, theories, issues, and logistics involved with yoga and its instruction.
Finally, the plethora of post-intensive work will prove high-quality in that it all requires me to get out in the world and start teaching in the environments in which I will soon teach professionally. Also, volunteering will bring me closer to the community and strengthen my bonds with the people around me (whether they be friends, acquaintances, or strangers). The CPR course is valuable for any human to take, of course, because it assures that one knows how to save another’s life in an emergency. The meditation course will definitely help me find my own stillness and be better able to focus and be in control of my anxiety. It will be exciting to teach meditation classes in which a room of people pool their energy together to become grounded and peaceful.
Throughout my months of student teaching, it will be highly beneficial to complete the required 40 days of meditation journaling. This will bring all my thoughts and feelings in the moment full circle as I will be able to study and ruminate over them at a later date, ultimately aiding me in making realizations and noticing patterns in my thoughts.
Connection to Learning Outcomes within the Honors Thematic Area
“Identifies the various characteristics of a leader in a given situation/role”
Characteristics of a strong leader in a yoga class setting include being conscientious, patient, forgiving, self-loving, encouraging, peaceful, kind, and inspiring. Many opportunities to shine and grow as a leader will be presented to me throughout this process, whether it’s through having an active voice in class discussions, completing service hours with sincerity, or using the aforementioned traits of a leader to make my student teaching special and impactful to the people taking class.
“Has the ability to relate, communicate and work effectively with peers”
This ability and group mentality will be of utmost importance during the two-week live intensive, as I will be in a constant group setting involving the instructor, me, and about nine other peers with whom I will be required to communicate, discuss issues, learn concepts, and work together to learn the mental and physical aspects of yoga, including hands-on correcting for yoga postures.
“Develops a vision of the future and acknowledges the impact of decisions (as applicable to the individual and affiliated organizations)”
The decisions I make during this course (to take it seriously, complete all assignments thoroughly, be honest and open to corrections and new ideas, and to complete the large amount of post-intensive teaching and volunteering) will have a gigantic impact on my vision of becoming a successful and inspiring yoga teacher. This will impact my personal vision of the future as I want with every fiber of my being to teach yoga for as much of my life as possible. My decisions will also impact KCFitnessLink, where I will hopefully begin my professional career as a yoga teacher. By making concise, wise choices, I will positively impact this yoga studio by bringing a strong, active and nurturing presence to their classes (and impact those who take classes and who work with me).
Connection to Goals and Academic Theories
This project contributes to my future personal, academic, and professional goals as they are all intertwined and complementary of each other.
On a personal level, becoming a yoga teacher will strengthen my mind, body, and spirit, and help me experience movement in yet another form, unique and supplemental to my study and career in dancing, which has always been a goal of mine. It will also lower my levels of anxiety and manic/depressive tendencies, which are goals of utmost urgency to me at this time in my life.
Relating to my academic goals, this yoga training will help me reach towards a pinnacle of knowledge that through schooling I am closer to achieving, regarding body-mind awareness and specialization in the field of yoga.
Professionally, my goal is clear-cut: I wish to become a certified yoga teacher and can only do so through a Yoga Alliance certified yoga teacher training program such as the one I’m going to be participating in.
As shown in the extensive list below, I will necessarily be reading a large quantity of books and online articles in order to prepare for and supplement this course. Below I’ve selected three of the resources to show how they will inform and provide background knowledge for my project:
As a useful companion to my first reference, this coloring book will be essential to me learning the material from the Yoga Anatomy book. Ascribing colors to the muscles and tendons used in yoga that I must memorize and coloring them in myself will help me become more solidly knowledgeable about what body systems and muscle groups pertain to which yoga poses. This detailed background information will help me be more professional, once I am a teacher and can explain to students the anatomical side of yoga, for their own body awareness and health consciousness.
Complete Reference List of Materials of Study:
Articles:
Introduction to Balance Yoga
Components of Health and Fitness
Anatomy and Physiology
Teaching Methods
Techniques
Nutrition
Theory of Yoga
Professional Issues
Asana Techniques
Initiative, Independence, and/or Creativity
My unique contribution to this project is that I am a dancer who is already self-aware of my body in several ways, but who wants to go deeper and take hold of a better understanding in order to become a better dancer and yogini. My knowledge of dance will help me with such things as balance, flexibility, and determination, as well as being used to intense physical exertion. I also will contribute to the dance community in the future by being able to teach other dancers about the benefits and cross training involved with yoga. My previous experiences with yoga include taking yoga at several ballet summer intensives, as well as doing a month of yoga last summer in Cincinnati at World Peace Yoga, and taking a month of hot yoga at Modo Yoga this past winter. I have demonstrated initiative by researching many yoga studios and yoga teacher training programs in the Kansas City area and have selected one that is soon, so as to not procrastinate, and also visited the studio to make sure of its legitimacy and overall feel. I had a meeting with the main instructor, Darryl Olive, at the yoga studio and we discussed several aspects of the yoga teacher training program. I have shown my direct interest and have done the proper investigating in order to make sure this will be the best program to participate in.
Reflection
As a way of reflecting throughout my yogic journey, I will record myself performing interpretive dance to express my feelings and ideas along the way. Accompanying these videos of my dancing will be thoroughly thought out written explanations about the insights, struggles, achievements, and overall take-away lessons from what I will be learning… This reflection process will enhance my individual learning by making me actively and candidly reflect on my gut reactions to the details I encounter through this process and analyzing my own growth and evolution as a human, yogini, dancer, and learner. I will be reflecting on how effective my training is and how being immersed in a yogic lifestyle affects me mentally, emotionally, and physically.
Dissemination
My dissemination will be a two-step process. The first part will be creating a sign to post in the elevator of my apartment building, inviting anyone and everyone who lives in my apartment building (a giant courthouse with ten stories) to join me in a presentation and sample beginners’ yoga class on the beautiful rooftop deck of the courthouse. The second part will be giving the informative presentation on the rooftop and sharing the major takeaways of what I learned on my journey, as well as providing a free yoga class to those who are interested. My audience will be relevant in that it will consist of an entirely mixed and unpredictable group of people from all walks of life, considering it will be people who live in my building, which are quite diverse and with a wide range of interests, jobs, and hobbies. Since yoga is beneficial to any and every type of person, I hope to reach some people who have never taken yoga before and whom I could inspire to take a class or start their own in-home practice. True selflessness through yoga involves teaching others without ever expecting anything in return. The point is to simply give in order to enrich the people of the universe with knowledge that will help themselves and others in the future.
Project Advisor
Darryl Olive, Director of KCFitnessLink
Darryl is a respected and highly qualified member of the Kansas City yoga community. It would be hard to find someone more qualified than he, except maybe a yoga guru wearing a turban in a remote cave in India. He will be instructing me in the whole course, from live training to student teaching. Seen below is is biography, as seen on the KCFitnessLink website:
“Darryl Olive, MBA, MHA, CSCS, E-RYT 500, LMT: Darryl has been training and certifying health and fitness professionals since 2002. He has worked with several certifying organizations including the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the American Council on Exercise (ACE) and the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA). He is a certified and licensed Thai Yoga Massage therapist and is an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher at 500 hours with the Yoga Alliance. Darryl is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia. Darryl also has taken the Anatomy in clay instructor training. He is a Level I USA Weightlifting Sports Performance Coach, CrossFit-Level I Trainer, and Group TRX Suspension Trainer. Darryl teaches the yoga, massage, anatomy, personal training, Ayurveda, and nutrition curriculum.”
Budget:
Cost of Teacher Training two-week intensive = $1750
Cost of books required for training course = $255
In-class supplies (yoga mat, yoga block) = $30
Meals during intensive: $12 per meal, three meals per day; ten days = $360
Transportation (gas money) to and from yoga studio each day = $27.75
Math: 7.4 miles to studio × 2 (there and back) = 14.8 miles per day × 10 days = 148 miles
My ’95 station wagon gets 16 miles per gallon, so 148 miles ÷ 16 mpg
= 9.25 gallons x $3.00/gallon
= $27.75
Total estimated cost = $2,422.75
UC Email: [email protected]
College: College-Conservatory of Music
Major: Ballet
Title of Project: A Yogic Journey: Flowing towards Leadership
Thematic Area: Leadership
Expected Project Start Date: August 20, 2015
Expected Project End Date: February 20, 2015
Abstract:
This project will be a head-first leap into the world of yoga. Although I have taken numerous yoga classes in the past and find myself passionate about it, this experience will springboard me into what it really means to practice yoga as a leader: to help others through my deepening knowledge and experience in the field, and to ultimately instruct and guide an infinite amount of people through their struggles and hardships as a certified yoga instructor. With the hopes of becoming a yoga teacher stashed in my back pocket for years, the experience of actually becoming one will have a humbling and profound significance in my personal realm. In the past few years especially I have felt deep, sporadic bouts of anxiety and sometimes experience panic attacks. On a personal level I’ve noticed that yoga serves as a strong antidote to my anxiety and helps me find a calm, soothing center point where I can focus my energy when bogged down by an extreme mood. This personal need for yoga to stay mentally healthy will in turn help me assist others when they experience similar symptoms and need a way out.
My yogic project will entail quite an in-depth and rigorous amount of studying—including at-home pre-intensive study, live yoga practice at the intensive for twelve hours a day for ten days, and post-intensive work including doing 35 volunteer hours, student teaching 80 yoga classes, keeping a personal journal for 40 days, doing a 20 hour meditation course, teaching a workshop, participating in a 160 hour workshop series, and getting CPR certified. In total, this course will envelop me in at least ____ hours of preparation, research, direct contact, and reflection.
Here is the exact breakdown of the hours involved:
Pre-intensive study: At least 80 hours of reading
Intensive (in-person): 120 hours
Student teaching: 80 hours
Journaling: 30 hours
Meditation Course: 20 hours
Meditation Teaching: 20 hours
Workshop Series: 160 hours
CPR Course: 8 hours
Volunteering: 35 hours
Total: approximately 553 hours
The thought of embarking on this journey is overwhelmingly exciting. Now that I’ve explained the quantity of time I’ll be spending on this experience, it’s now time to acknowledge and explain the quality of such activities and studies. The pre-intensive readings will undoubtedly benefit me in many ways. With 1600 pages of in-depth research including yoga anatomy, hands-on anatomy coloring, books about meditation, theory of yoga, history of yoga, and more, my brain is sure to be buzzing with new, valuable information that will further benefit me throughout this process.
Next, the in-class format will perhaps be the most intense portion of this experience. With twelve hours a day, broken into 8 hours in class and 4 hours of home study, this portion will surely bring me much closer to other aspiring yogis and yoginis, as well as with my yoga mentor. As Darryl, the head of KCFitnessLink Yoga described, this experience will be “eating, sleeping, and breathing yoga for two weeks.” With opening yoga practices to start the day, followed by several class discussions, seminars, and hands-on instructor “lab” training each day, I will be fully immersed in the culture, theories, issues, and logistics involved with yoga and its instruction.
Finally, the plethora of post-intensive work will prove high-quality in that it all requires me to get out in the world and start teaching in the environments in which I will soon teach professionally. Also, volunteering will bring me closer to the community and strengthen my bonds with the people around me (whether they be friends, acquaintances, or strangers). The CPR course is valuable for any human to take, of course, because it assures that one knows how to save another’s life in an emergency. The meditation course will definitely help me find my own stillness and be better able to focus and be in control of my anxiety. It will be exciting to teach meditation classes in which a room of people pool their energy together to become grounded and peaceful.
Throughout my months of student teaching, it will be highly beneficial to complete the required 40 days of meditation journaling. This will bring all my thoughts and feelings in the moment full circle as I will be able to study and ruminate over them at a later date, ultimately aiding me in making realizations and noticing patterns in my thoughts.
Connection to Learning Outcomes within the Honors Thematic Area
“Identifies the various characteristics of a leader in a given situation/role”
Characteristics of a strong leader in a yoga class setting include being conscientious, patient, forgiving, self-loving, encouraging, peaceful, kind, and inspiring. Many opportunities to shine and grow as a leader will be presented to me throughout this process, whether it’s through having an active voice in class discussions, completing service hours with sincerity, or using the aforementioned traits of a leader to make my student teaching special and impactful to the people taking class.
“Has the ability to relate, communicate and work effectively with peers”
This ability and group mentality will be of utmost importance during the two-week live intensive, as I will be in a constant group setting involving the instructor, me, and about nine other peers with whom I will be required to communicate, discuss issues, learn concepts, and work together to learn the mental and physical aspects of yoga, including hands-on correcting for yoga postures.
“Develops a vision of the future and acknowledges the impact of decisions (as applicable to the individual and affiliated organizations)”
The decisions I make during this course (to take it seriously, complete all assignments thoroughly, be honest and open to corrections and new ideas, and to complete the large amount of post-intensive teaching and volunteering) will have a gigantic impact on my vision of becoming a successful and inspiring yoga teacher. This will impact my personal vision of the future as I want with every fiber of my being to teach yoga for as much of my life as possible. My decisions will also impact KCFitnessLink, where I will hopefully begin my professional career as a yoga teacher. By making concise, wise choices, I will positively impact this yoga studio by bringing a strong, active and nurturing presence to their classes (and impact those who take classes and who work with me).
Connection to Goals and Academic Theories
This project contributes to my future personal, academic, and professional goals as they are all intertwined and complementary of each other.
On a personal level, becoming a yoga teacher will strengthen my mind, body, and spirit, and help me experience movement in yet another form, unique and supplemental to my study and career in dancing, which has always been a goal of mine. It will also lower my levels of anxiety and manic/depressive tendencies, which are goals of utmost urgency to me at this time in my life.
Relating to my academic goals, this yoga training will help me reach towards a pinnacle of knowledge that through schooling I am closer to achieving, regarding body-mind awareness and specialization in the field of yoga.
Professionally, my goal is clear-cut: I wish to become a certified yoga teacher and can only do so through a Yoga Alliance certified yoga teacher training program such as the one I’m going to be participating in.
As shown in the extensive list below, I will necessarily be reading a large quantity of books and online articles in order to prepare for and supplement this course. Below I’ve selected three of the resources to show how they will inform and provide background knowledge for my project:
- Kaminoff, Leslie, Amy Matthews, and Sharon Ellis. Yoga Anatomy. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2007. Print.
- Kapit, Wynn, and Lawrence M. Elson. Anatomy Coloring Book. New York: HarperCollins College Pub., 1993. Print.
As a useful companion to my first reference, this coloring book will be essential to me learning the material from the Yoga Anatomy book. Ascribing colors to the muscles and tendons used in yoga that I must memorize and coloring them in myself will help me become more solidly knowledgeable about what body systems and muscle groups pertain to which yoga poses. This detailed background information will help me be more professional, once I am a teacher and can explain to students the anatomical side of yoga, for their own body awareness and health consciousness.
- Gerstein, Nancy. Guiding Yoga's Light: Lessons for Yoga Teachers. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2008. Print.
Complete Reference List of Materials of Study:
- Yoga Beyond Belief: Insight to Awaken and Deepen Your Practice-Ganga White
- Yoga Anatomy, Leslie Kaminoff
- Anatomy Coloring Book The (3rd Edition) by Wynn Kapit and Lawrence M. Elson
- Gerstein, Nancy (2008) Guiding Yoga’s Light: Lessons for Yoga Teachers
- Selby, John (2003). Seven Masters, One Path. HarperCollins: USA.
- Kabat-Zinn, John (1994). Wherever you go there you are: Mindfulness meditation in everyday life.
- Total Yoga DVD by Ganga White and Tracey Rich Pack
Articles:
Introduction to Balance Yoga
Components of Health and Fitness
Anatomy and Physiology
- Stretching Research and Overview – Len kravitz
- Physiology Refresher
- Respiratory Anatomy
- diaphragmatic_breath-doug keller
- A Primer on Muscles
- Chakras and Coloros
- Hip Girdle Part II
- Yoga for Foot Ankle Knee
- The Best of Both Worlds -Yoga Plus PNF
Teaching Methods
Techniques
- -Techniques -Yoga for meditators
- Teaching Pranayama
- Teaching Mantra
- The Philosophy of Touch
- The Principles of Sequencing
- Sequencing Principles for Energizing and Relaxing
- How to Teach a Multi-Level Class
- Mandala Meditation
Nutrition
Theory of Yoga
Professional Issues
Asana Techniques
- Everybody Upside -Inversions Case Study
- Backbend Safety-Doug Keller
- Sciatica
- Tight Hamstrings
- Shoulders-Chataranga
- Abdominals and Back Safety
- Shoulder and Rotator Cuff
- Back Pain and Psoas
- Shoulders and Upperback Pain
- Neck Tension and Backbends
- yoga for back care
- Assessing ROM in Downward Dog
- Keep the Neck Healthy in Shoulderstand
- Keep Knees Healthy in Virasana
- Yoga Inversions Powerpoint Presentation
Initiative, Independence, and/or Creativity
My unique contribution to this project is that I am a dancer who is already self-aware of my body in several ways, but who wants to go deeper and take hold of a better understanding in order to become a better dancer and yogini. My knowledge of dance will help me with such things as balance, flexibility, and determination, as well as being used to intense physical exertion. I also will contribute to the dance community in the future by being able to teach other dancers about the benefits and cross training involved with yoga. My previous experiences with yoga include taking yoga at several ballet summer intensives, as well as doing a month of yoga last summer in Cincinnati at World Peace Yoga, and taking a month of hot yoga at Modo Yoga this past winter. I have demonstrated initiative by researching many yoga studios and yoga teacher training programs in the Kansas City area and have selected one that is soon, so as to not procrastinate, and also visited the studio to make sure of its legitimacy and overall feel. I had a meeting with the main instructor, Darryl Olive, at the yoga studio and we discussed several aspects of the yoga teacher training program. I have shown my direct interest and have done the proper investigating in order to make sure this will be the best program to participate in.
Reflection
As a way of reflecting throughout my yogic journey, I will record myself performing interpretive dance to express my feelings and ideas along the way. Accompanying these videos of my dancing will be thoroughly thought out written explanations about the insights, struggles, achievements, and overall take-away lessons from what I will be learning… This reflection process will enhance my individual learning by making me actively and candidly reflect on my gut reactions to the details I encounter through this process and analyzing my own growth and evolution as a human, yogini, dancer, and learner. I will be reflecting on how effective my training is and how being immersed in a yogic lifestyle affects me mentally, emotionally, and physically.
Dissemination
My dissemination will be a two-step process. The first part will be creating a sign to post in the elevator of my apartment building, inviting anyone and everyone who lives in my apartment building (a giant courthouse with ten stories) to join me in a presentation and sample beginners’ yoga class on the beautiful rooftop deck of the courthouse. The second part will be giving the informative presentation on the rooftop and sharing the major takeaways of what I learned on my journey, as well as providing a free yoga class to those who are interested. My audience will be relevant in that it will consist of an entirely mixed and unpredictable group of people from all walks of life, considering it will be people who live in my building, which are quite diverse and with a wide range of interests, jobs, and hobbies. Since yoga is beneficial to any and every type of person, I hope to reach some people who have never taken yoga before and whom I could inspire to take a class or start their own in-home practice. True selflessness through yoga involves teaching others without ever expecting anything in return. The point is to simply give in order to enrich the people of the universe with knowledge that will help themselves and others in the future.
Project Advisor
Darryl Olive, Director of KCFitnessLink
Darryl is a respected and highly qualified member of the Kansas City yoga community. It would be hard to find someone more qualified than he, except maybe a yoga guru wearing a turban in a remote cave in India. He will be instructing me in the whole course, from live training to student teaching. Seen below is is biography, as seen on the KCFitnessLink website:
“Darryl Olive, MBA, MHA, CSCS, E-RYT 500, LMT: Darryl has been training and certifying health and fitness professionals since 2002. He has worked with several certifying organizations including the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the American Council on Exercise (ACE) and the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA). He is a certified and licensed Thai Yoga Massage therapist and is an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher at 500 hours with the Yoga Alliance. Darryl is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia. Darryl also has taken the Anatomy in clay instructor training. He is a Level I USA Weightlifting Sports Performance Coach, CrossFit-Level I Trainer, and Group TRX Suspension Trainer. Darryl teaches the yoga, massage, anatomy, personal training, Ayurveda, and nutrition curriculum.”
- KCFitnessLink catalog, page 26: http://www.kcfitnesslink.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/kcfitnesslink-plaza-catalog-3-29-15.pdf
Budget:
Cost of Teacher Training two-week intensive = $1750
Cost of books required for training course = $255
In-class supplies (yoga mat, yoga block) = $30
Meals during intensive: $12 per meal, three meals per day; ten days = $360
Transportation (gas money) to and from yoga studio each day = $27.75
Math: 7.4 miles to studio × 2 (there and back) = 14.8 miles per day × 10 days = 148 miles
My ’95 station wagon gets 16 miles per gallon, so 148 miles ÷ 16 mpg
= 9.25 gallons x $3.00/gallon
= $27.75
Total estimated cost = $2,422.75