The 5th ever Shiva Nata training intensive:
2012
This summer!
In Portland, Oregon at the Playground — the world center of all things Shivanautical, and a truly magical practice space.
And so you know, the last training program filled extremely quickly.
Sneak preview (snack preview) — the Shivanauts picnic call!
Maybe you’re planning to come to the training. Or maybe you can’t make it.
But either way you’re welcome to listen to the recording of our special, fun, snack-centric Shivanautical group call — and read the chat transcript too!
This will reignite your practice, answer all sorts of useful questions, give you practice/teaching tips and make everything more sparkly! And generally better!
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And here’s the good news. You don’t have to choose.
Because we’re actually doing all of that at this training.
If you don’t want to teach, I promise you won’t be bored. I’m super sneaky about how I teach how to teach.
And if you do want to teach, I promise that you will learn something about teaching Shiva Nata in every aspect of what we do. I’m sneaky that way too.
Selma and I will make sure that you get what you need.
You are welcome to join us! You belong!
Even if…
- Even if you don’t know what you’re doing. Especially if you don’t know!
- Even if you’re hopelessly uncoordinated. Doesn’t matter.
- Even if you don’t know if you ever want to teach. You don’t have to.
- Even if you don’t know why you want to come. It’s mysterious.
- Even if you haven’t practiced in months. Or at all.
- Even if you’re pretty sure this has nothing to do with you. Surprise! It changes everything.
The thinking we don’t belong is a pattern. And Shiva Nata is the thing that takes apart patterns and replaces them with newer and better ones, so that the new way lives in your body.
You are welcome. You belong.
“Magical.
I had the Starter Kit DVD, but until I studied with you, I didn’t get how I could challenge myself — that weekend really drove it home.
You made it clear that we could have fun — there can be such a lightness to the whole thing, even though it’s hard.
I tell people who ask that, yes, I learned with the DVD, but I really started learning that weekend. I can’t thank you enough — that was magical.”
Some of what we’re covering in the teaching part:
Healing the teaching what-ifs. From “I’m not ready” to “what if my students end up better than me?” to “what if no one gets it?” and “what if I’m not a good teacher?” And all the rest.
The mirror effect.
How to establish the mirror so that your students can lose themselves in the practice without you getting lost and confused while watching them mess up.
Making the practice accessible.
And maybe even fun. So that your students can stay in the challenge (because that’s where the epiphanies happen) without hating it too much.
Mistakes.
Everyone makes them. How to gleefully turn them into useful teaching tools.
Reverse training.
What used to be your left is now your right. But you’re still calling it left. How to do this smoothly and easily without screwing up and still maintaining some sanity.
Planning smart, strategic, adjustable lessons.
So that each class you teach hits the spot.
Sovereignty in teaching.
Maintaining clear, healthy boundaries while still respectfully and lovingly treating your students as sovereign beings with their own experience and their own process.
And of course there will be lots of time for Q&A and support, so whatever questions you have will get answered.
Oh, and I’ll happily write a testimonial or recommendation for you if you need one.
And some of what we’re covering in the non-teaching part:
Releasing internal rules: permission to fail, flail and how to get messy without being sloppy.
Form and structure: how to build new patterns to replace the old ones.
How to apply Shiva Nata to everything — from physical issues to relationship challenges to whatever stuff in your life needs love and attention.
How to use Shiva Nata to get answers to questions and solutions to stuckness.
How to build a creative, sustainable, pleasurable practice that you can take home with you and continue to build on.
What the training looks like.
Day 1
We meet in the early evening (5:00 to 7:00pm) for orientation, with a slow, simple practice and some stone skippings.
Day 2
In the morning session (nine to noon), we’ll have a practice and work through anxieties, what-ifs and how-tos.
In the afternoon session (two to six), we’ll have a second practice, some theory, some calmification and some bad-ass epiphanies.
Day 3
More practice. More theory.
Day 4
Biggification strategizing and we’ll also plan a first class.
“Man, oh man! This training is beyond the best! I can confidently say that every day since the training in February I have thought about and used some of the things that I learned there. For me it was a totally transformative experience — in the gentlest, most loving, hilarious, bad-ass, and profound way.
Yay for teacher training and all the people who are going to dissolve in bliss this time around!”
~ Eleanor
The most frequently asked question: what if I’m not ready to teach?!
Well, you definitely don’t have to. Ever. And there will be plenty of people at the training who aren’t there to teach or to learn about teaching.
BUT I WILL SAY THIS:
You’re a lot more ready than you think you are.
In fact…you’re ready to teach if:
If the idea of Shiva Nata rocks your world. And if the practice sort of drives you crazy.
And if you’re intrigued by the flailing. That’s it.
Most the things I teach come with serious pre-requisites but not this.
Here’s why:
Shiva Nata is ridiculously hard. For everyone.
I’ve taught choreographers, athletes, NASA scientists. They all get lost.
Even if all you know so far is a chunk of Level 1, that’s enough to start.
While they’re learning arms, you learn legs. While they learn legs, you learn Level 2.
As long as you’re one or two steps ahead of your students — and committed to practicing while you teach — you’ll be fine.
So yes. This is going to sound kind of crazy but you are ready.
And if you don’t think you’re ready, you’re definitely ready.
That still doesn’t mean you’ll get in to the training, because spaces are limited.
But are you ready to teach? Hell yeah.
I’ll tell you something else. At the February training, we had two trainees who had never done Shiva Nata. Ever.
They just had a feeling they needed to be there. And honestly, I wasn’t sure it was a great idea but I was wrong. It was a FANTASTIC idea. It forced me to go really into detail about how to teach the positions, which was useful for everyone. And they had the time of their lives. So rock on.
FAQ time! All the other questions you might be wondering about …
What if I’m not that good at Dance of Shiva yet?
Not a problem.
You don’t need to know how to do level 7 (or even level 1) to take a training. We will get you to the point where you’re a couple steps ahead , and both you and everyone you meet will benefit.
What if I haven’t practiced in six months?
Good! Then this will really shake up your world. And it means you’ll be the kind of teacher who gets what it’s like to take long breaks between practicing. No worries.
What if I’ve never done it at all?
Well, that’s kind of crazy but you know what? It really doesn’t matter. So while I’d love for you to start now to get all psyched up for this, we can make it work either way.
What if the practice is too hard for me?
You’re in good company. When it’s too hard, it’s because it’s designed to be that way.
Being confused is kind of the point. And my job is going to be making sure that everyone is lost and confused some of the time. The good part: it will help you identify with your students!
How much actual physical practice will we be doing?
We’ll have fun practice sessions specifically for our own epiphanies and insights. And other short practices (ten minutes here, ten minutes there) for demonstrating techniques.
You’ll end up doing a ton of Shiva Nata and getting way better at it, but we won’t push for insanely long periods of time. You’ll be more worn out from the insights than the physical practice.
Will I have to do it by myself in front of everyone?
Oh god, no. Not unless you want to. That sounds super stressful.
Will I have to a chance to stand up and teach if that is something I want to try?
Anyone can take a turn standing up on the stage, because everything looks really cool from up there. Maybe you’ll even lead the group in some spirals. Only if you want to. Zero pressure.
Can I really use this for anything?
Absolutely. People are using this to train all sorts of people who need to think creatively, work efficiently, have insights and get stuff done. Writers. Programmers. Bloggers. Consultants.
Kelly uses Shiva Nata to help people write better. Anna uses Shiva Nata to help actors get over stage fright and memorize their lines. Andy used Shiva Nata to write a grant proposal. Casey used Shiva Nata to ease and speed up her recovery from a stroke. Now she teaches stroke victims.
If the people you want to connect with need more creative expression, crazy clarity, mental coordination, ideas on demand … this is for them.
What if I want to teach without taking a training with you?
Bless your heart. Go for it.
Yes, having the training under your belt will help you feel really capable and ready to be a terrific teacher, and it will save you a pretty significant share of mistakes and heartache.
And it’s full of incredibly useful information and experiences that will help you integrate what you know into your expanding identity as a teacher.
But no, you do not need a certificate from me to teach.
What if I want to come to the training but I don’t want to teach?
That’s cool. That’s something you have in common with most of the people who have come to these trainings. Of course, most them do end up teaching despite all their plans not to, but I’m okay with it either way.
You’ll get what you need to get, the epiphanies and insights will live inside you forever, and it will make you better at everything else you do.
Who’s going to be there?
Last time we had twenty two participants — people signed up from Australia, France and England, as well as across North America. Including two shivanauts from Alaska (go, Alaska!).
What if everyone there is all X and I’m all Y?
That’s just outsider syndrome talking. We all have it. And it’s not true. It’s another pattern that Shiva Nata can help you unravel and replace.
Will I have to wear a name tag?
Never!
Will you teach us how to get students and promote our classes?
I never schedule much marketing-advice stuff because our time is so limited, but somehow we always manage to sneak a bunch of really useful tips and tricks in.
What should I bring?
Notebook. Pen. Water bottle. Warm socks!
What should I wear?
Loose comfortable clothing. And it’s never a bad idea to bring a raincoat to Portland.
Places to stay?
You can book a room at the Kennedy School. That puts you in walking distance to The Playground. We’ll also try to put together a list of couch-surfing options or Portland Shivanauts you might be able to stay with!
Foods?
There are plenty of wonderful and affordable little places to eat in the neighborhood (vegetarian, vegan + gluten-free options abound). And of course there’s water, tea and light snacks at the Playground.
Is a few days really enough?
No. No, it is not.
And if it were up to me, we’d have a year-long training. Or, at the very least, five to six weeks. But it’s a start. A really, really useful start.
Each time we do this, I am astonished by the huge transformation that takes place in every single participant over the course of these trainings. It’s enough to start.
It’s enough to help you figure out how to have a fun, powerful, regular practice.
It’s enough to help you figure out what your next steps are and how to make them enjoyable and do-able.
It’s enough to feel supported and confident teaching if you want to teach. It’s enough to get you out there doing the thing so you can help the people who need this right now. It’s enough to make the world a better place.
It’s enough to make you a teacher. You already are one. But after this you’ll know it and feel it and it will live in your cells forever.
It’s an amazing thing.
And we can’t forget the “Do I have to….?” question.
Do I have to be a dancer? Or want to be a dancer? Want to teach? Be even vaguely coordinated? Have any experience? Know what I’m doing? Have a plan?
No, sweetie. Not at all. None of that is necessary.
What is important:
The massive insights and understandings you’ll have. The deep and powerful practice that you will be able to do both with yourself and with others. The ways you can incorporate this into everything else you do to make it that much better.
There’s no failing, just flailing!
What you get (in the hard):
Three days (Wednesday afternoon through Friday afternoon) of Shivanautical goodness.
Opportunities to get all your questions answered.
A teacher’s certificate that says you’ve done this training with me.
A certified Shiva Nata teacher badge for your website and online teaching materials.
A private space on our website to talk teacher-ey stuff with other teacher training graduates.
My worksheet and sneaky tricks for how to set up classes at a variety of different venues.
A cheatsheet copy of my adjustable lesson-planning method so you can organize the structure of your classes quickly and easily.
Once you’re teaching I can talk about your classes on the blog.
What you get (in the soft):
A much deeper understanding of the practice, how it works and what it does for you.
Confidence and assurance that you know what you’re doing and you can’t screw it up.
The experience of letting the dance do the teaching instead of you trying to teach it.
Epiphanies and insights.
Knowing that you’re really, truly ready.
Laughing and silliness with people who will become your friends for life.
Cost.
The cost for last year’s small, intimate, intense group teacher training was $1290*.
*Or three monthly payments of $450.
This year sign-up and pricing will happen as part of Shivanauticon. Go there for details.
And a story instead of a postscript.
So yes, right now I’m the #2 teacher of this in the world, but when I started teaching in 2004? At that point I couldn’t even do arms and legs together. I was learning the legs while I was teaching the arms. True story.
And my students got exactly what they needed.
So please please please don’t put this off because of internal monsters and gremlins whispering that you’re not good enough yet and that you need more practice.
The people who need this from you won’t notice and won’t care. They need what you know right now, in whatever form you have to give it to them. And that will be enough. Promise.
Results.
Everyone at our last training started off saying that they weren’t ready to teach, and might not ever be. And they all agreed that by the end of one day they felt 100% ready — and hugely excited — to get out there and teach.
Even the people who were just there because they wanted to take their practice deeper and weren’t even planning on teaching. So, yeah. Warning! Career changes have been known to happen. But it’s good.
This is Beth — who never even wanted to teach and only came for the epiphanies. She set up her first class up FOUR DAYS after the training (and loved it):
Day 1:
“Still in recovery mode from the shiva nata teacher training. Napping in bed and saying mmmm shiva nata is awesome.”
Day 3:
“I set up my first shiva nata class tonight — just two people. It’s a practice class for the real thing. I guess I should be nervous or something but apparently I am continuing on with this new “yeah, I can do that, no big deal” approach to teaching. It’s weird to not be neurotic about something.”
Day 4:
“Brains! Fried! Postverbal! Awesome! Good night!”
Oh, and then she came to the next teacher training too, and had even more epiphanies and taught a mini-class there, and also she sometimes teaches in a pterodactyl costume. That’s how much fun we had. Go, Beth!
