If you haven’t heard of Noah Maze, step out of the shadows, my friend. I was first introduced to this spark of brilliance by my friend and colleague, Sara Strother–local yoga-genius and fire starter. She brought me to Noah’s first workshop in Chicago over three years ago and I’ve been stalking him on Yoga Glo ever since.
An avid Ashtangi in his teens, his practice evolved towards Anusara an off-shoot of the Iyengar tradition. Noah’s philosophy has a strong tantric influence from his studies with Douglas Brooks (Srividya)…but it’s not philosophy that his classes are known for. He is renowned for intelligent sequencing, mechanical clarity, and a bit of a wit. Noah continues to learn from teachers of many styles and traditions. As a bonafide alignment geek, he researches other movement modalities that serve to enhance his understanding of his current manifest issue. As a result, information is current and extends beyond what most yoga workshops offer.
I had the pleasure of spending four days with Noah at Yogaview in February 2015. Every good teacher is concerned about meeting the needs and interests of their students, and Noah led his Teacher Training with this inquiry. The first day was all about sequencing. I have pleaded with him to write the definitive book on this topic, since his perspective is broad and inclusive. Every method of yoga has a perspective and a strategy. Noah was able to present the advantages and the pitfalls of each method, leaving his students to draw their own conclusions. He offered multiple points of view from a plethora of traditions and invited teachers to draw from this toolbox and create authentic classes. He spoke about set sequences, templates, peak pose strategies and working with anatomical themes. His delivery (as always) was informative, compassionate and entertaining. In true artist vernacular, he referenced negative space as the content a teacher leaves out, and why it is as pertinent as the poses which are included in a class. He concluded our first day by assigning a peak pose to design a sequence for, and some questions to consider regarding said pose.
Day two was about effective cuing. Noah agrees with most of the language formulas being taught locally. He reminded us that some students tune out once they know how the story ends, which could be awkward if you have purposefully chosen to teach a different expression of the pose. It’s important to take this into consideration and prioritize the actions you want to highlight. Each school of yoga has slightly different expressions of similar poses…offering various mechanical advantages as well as disadvantages, Noah assigned additional homework which asked us to present three different expressions of the same pose in one class.
On the third day, Noah taught effective demonstration techniques. He encouraged us to consider timing, angles, and dialogue. Dialogue was to be minimal since you use it only to focus the students eyes on what you want them to see. He suggested ways to demonstrate poses that you can’t effectively demo yourself. Noah’s final day with us was all about adjustments.
I have always been inspired from the opportunities i have had to study with this yogi-Master. It is clear that Noah is training yoga teachers to be yoga artists, and I am reminded that teaching IS an art.
He teaches ME to fall in love with the art of teaching each and every time he passes through town.
Tonna Reinhold has been teaching yoga around Chicago for only 15 years, but she has been building her movement and therapeutic background since the 1980’s. You can learn more about her by visiting her website at dancinglotusfitness.com.
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