YOGAChicago Interview

Sat, 16 Jul 2011 21:36:20 -0500

July/August 2011
TEACHER PROFILE
Alie McManus: Teaching Freedom Yoga as Learned from Erich Schiffmann
By Sharon Steffensen

Alie pronounces her name with a long A --"as in alien," she explains. Is that your given name, I ask, imagining it might be spelled "Alienne," a pretty name, sort of like Adrienne. No! she replies. Then I get it, and we both laugh.
Alie started doing yoga in 1994 from a video by well-known California-based yoga teacher Erich Schiffmann while attending the University of Vermont. Later, while doing graduate work in Boston, she met Barbara Benagh, with whom she studied for four years, while managing Barbara's yoga studio, and eventually apprenticed with her. "I had no intention of being a yoga teacher," says Alie. "I just loved yoga. It made me feel so good. One of Barbara's teachers asked me to sub for him. I loved [teaching] so much, I never stopped."
In 1999, Alie finally met Erich at a Yoga Journal conference in Estes Park, Colorado. He suggested she take his teacher training in Santa Barbara, which she did in 2001. She loved his low-key style of teaching, and eventually was allowed to have a private yoga session with him, which he usually doesn't do. Alie says she showed up with a notebook, "ready to receive his teachings," but instead he asked her what asana she felt like doing. She replied, "My hamstrings are tight. How about paschimottanasana [seated forward bend]."
Erich then asked her what else she wanted to do. Alie says the private class continued that way, and she felt he was teaching her to sense inwardly what she felt she needed in each moment.
Afterward, Erich invited her to stay to practice with him and some other yoga teachers who were coming to his house. They each did their own practice, which Erich called "freeform yoga," and journaled about their insights in order to "track intuitive intelligence as it streams," explains Alie. "That became the source for my teaching."

The freeform yoga sessions were so much fun, Alie ended up moving to Los Angeles. She says, "I just wanted to keep on practicing at his house." (She describes the studio as being a separate extension of the garage.) Eventually she began to apprentice with him, assisting in his classes, workshops, and teacher trainings. In Los Angeles, Alie taught yoga at Exhale Center for Sacred Movement, UCLA, and Yoga House, with Oscar-winning actresses such as Ali McGraw and Frances McDormand attending her classes.
After four years in Los Angeles, Alie returned to the Chicago area (she grew up in Barrington Hills) and continued teaching "Freedom Yoga," which she describes as "flow and poses," based on what she learned from Erich. Currently, she teaches 11 classes each week (including privates) at Yogaview and Moksha Yoga, in addition to teacher trainings, weekend workshops, and special events. "Backbending and inversions are my forte," says Alie, "and Introduction to Yoga is also very popular." In the fall and winter, she teaches yoga to DePaul University students in the theater department. She also continues to assist Erich when he visits Chicago and in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where he gives a workshop every fall.
Alie describes her style as "slow alignment with breath. I will use the flow sequence as a greater pattern, but then hold the poses for a longer duration to be able to discover proper alignment and enjoy the breath and.the experience of yoga."
In a recent class at Yogaview, Alie began with a relaxation, followed by "hissing breath," and then gentle seated side bends, a twist, and a forward bend. Between traditional asanas and standing stretches, Alie led us in atypical movements such as shaking one foot, then "wobbling" the leg, then shaking the hands. "Shaking and wiggling will release tension throughout the nerves and muscles," said Alie. She alternates between demonstrating poses and giving adjustments, and throughout the class, she encouraged us to soften and to "relax into the outer edges" of our bodies. Alie is enthusiastic and gives clear directions and lots of encouragement, often commenting "Bueno! Bueno!"

Alie practices every day. She says, "When I am doing yoga, I am totally immersed in the experience, and I find you are actually discovering who you really are, minus all the untruths. Static dissolves and everything is clear and smooth. It's like, 'Yeah, I am awesome' in the most down-to-earth, grounded, true, and real way."
Other influential teachers Alie has studied with include Angela Farmer and Victor van Kooten, whom she met in Boston through Barbara Benagh. She spent ten days with them at their yoga center on the island of Lesbos in Greece, and attended Angela's women's retreat in Harbin Hot Springs, in California. She also studied for a week with Donna Farhi in Hong Kong, and with Patricia Sullivan whom she met through Kira Ryder, director of Lulu Bandha's Yoga School in Ojai, California.
Meditation is central to Alie's yoga practice. In 1999, she participated in a ten-day Vipassana silent meditation retreat. Now she practices a technique she learned from meditation teacher, Tracie Pape, in Evanston, as well as techniques Erich taught her; she says he refers to meditation as "inner listening."
Alie explains, "If you have an unresolved question in your life, you pose the question and then you listen for the response. When you are listening, your mind is not as active. Sometimes the things that bubble up in your mind are things you need to know. [It's about] recognizing and acknowledging what's coming up in your awareness and then coming back to 'pause, breathe, and relax,' and then sensing and being receptive to [the message].. It is an inner knowing.. The [original] purpose of yoga was so people can sit and be able to [meditate] for longer durations. Everything is divine and it is all you. You realize that you already know. But we forget!" My new mantra is 'Consciousness is being conscious right here where I am now.' The technique is simple and the trick is remembering to remember."
In addition to practicing and training with Erich, Alie says that most of all, Erich has taught her that she can experience yoga for herself without relying on others, even though she enjoys taking classes and practicing with fellow yogis. Alie appears on Erich Schiffmann's video Freedom Style Yoga with Erich Schiffmann and Friends. The synopsis on his website, movingintostillness.com, explains:
This is not an instructional yoga video in the usual sense of the term. It is instructional, however, in the very best sense.. [It's] a group of friends doing yoga together, as they really do it.. There is no structured format, no rules. It's freeform yoga practice. Freedom Style Yoga involves not deciding in advance what you are supposed to do. Instead, listen inwardly for guidance and give yourself permission to do as you are prompted. This is the real thing. Yogis doing yoga.
More about Alie

Birthplace : Chicago
Sun sign : Leo
Favorite pose : My favorite postures are tadasana (mountain pose) and adho muhka vrksasana (handstand). I approach tadasana like tree pose, rooting down into the ground through the feet, sensing balance, and an enlightened feeling through my body as a whole. The handstand is like tadasana but turned upside down! In both postures I love the feeling of being balanced, of being grounded and light, centered and expanded, relaxed and energized. Balancing feels beautiful. But I am best at backbends. I love scorpion. I love karna pidasana (ear pressure pose--like plough with the knees at the ears) because it is humbling and does not come easy to me.
Least favorite : Chaturanga dandasana (four-limbed staff pose). I think it is so misused. It's my pet peeve. People overdo it and do it wrong.
Favorite snack : apples and chocolate chip cookies, but not necessarily in that order
Currently reading : Just Kids by Patti Smith
Favorite books : Siddhartha, Autobiography of a Yogi, Hidden Messages in Water , and Many Lives, Many Masters

Spare time activity : Walking my dog, Alfie, through Lincoln Park and spending time on, by, or in the lake.

What people don't know about me : My love for skim boarding in Northern Wisconsin on Spirit Lake on water that looks like glass, with a bald eagle perched nearby. Skim boarding is similar to wake boarding, but there are no boots or bindings, the speed is a bit slower, and there is great potential for having lots of fun.
Words I live by : Pause, breathe, relax. It's something Erich taught me.
........
Alie McManus will be teaching yoga in Millennium Park on the first three Saturdays in August. She may be emailed at aliemcmanus@yahoo.com . Her website, which includes her teaching schedule, is AlieMcManus.com.

Kalamazoo, MI

Sat, 9 Apr 2011 17:50:26 -0500

Dear Friends,
I have found over and over again that I learn through experience. The main insight in this learning experience is to know I do not know. Instead of being an act of disempowerment or ignorance, this is an activity of being open to receiving. I almost always am nervous before I teach a class or workshop. My mother, very lovingly, reminded me that I am good and to remain open, and that things “come” to me in the moment. Yes, it seems more and more about being open and intuitively intelligent in the moment as the moment is unfolding. Wonderful things happen in a spontaneous fashion that could have never been planned out so well. Like discovering a new approach to a pose that reveals newness, freshness, and vibrancy, which inspires life. This experience is awesome. As we test the waters, never really knowing is actually a source of great empowerment. We sense what feels good and correct to us, each uniquely and specifically. This is our experience to be had, to own, to love and cherish as our own. When we do this together, this is our experience; we empower each other and give each other permission to discover for ourselves. This approach of being open and exploring our options feels correct. When something feels good there is an inner resonance and strength, a feeling of yes and an inner knowing of goodness that is unmistakable. This is the knowing place of YES! Wow: This experience feels excellent and life affirming. You may notice an inner confirmation that you are inherently good, and that you have the ability to be free.
My friend, and fellow student of Erich Schiffmann, Eunice Levy so kindly shared a moment of inspiration, which I in turn had the pleasure to share with everyone at our Michigan Yoga Association gathering the first weekend in April 2011. Below you may like to enjoy the beautiful journey Robert Frost takes us on.
Namaste You Guys.
Love
Alie

The Silken Tent
By Robert Frost
She is as in a field a silken tent
At midday when the sunny summer breeze
Has dried the dew and all its ropes relent,
So that in guys it gently sways at ease,
And its supporting central cedar pole,
That is its pinnacle to heavenward
And signifies the sureness of the soul,
Seems to owe naught to any single cord,
But strictly held by none, is loosely bound
By countless silken ties of love and thought
To everything on earth the compass round,
And only by one’s going slightly taut
In the capriciousness of summer air
Is of the slightest bondage made aware.

Freedom Style Yoga

Sun, 16 Jan 2011 14:56:24 -0600

Freedom Style Yoga is what my teacher Erich Schiffmann teaches and I practice. The idea is to be guided by one’s intuitive intelligence. Through practice and inner daring, trust yourself to be your own teacher. That doesn’t mean you will cease to learn from other teachers, or stop attending classes. Freedom yoga is about trusting one’s self, listening inwardly, and using meditation as a central practice. When you are grounded, centered and internally receptive--guidance or intuitive intelligence or inspiration flows clearly and is easier to sense, hear and respond to. This is the essence of Freedom Yoga, the trick is to actually enjoy the experience, your experience, your life! It is a joyful experience to be had!

The practice or technique is to continually return to the present through the breath and relaxing. It is that simple. Distractions can make the practice seem complicated, but at the heart it is simple to return to the breath and relax. Your awareness is like a light. As you shine the light of your attention throughout your body and mind we begin to feel lighter. Our whole body, our whole mind is illuminated, enlightened. We feel open, happy, receptive, appropriate and lovely.

The point of yoga is to have the experience of yoga--to have the feeling of being wonderfully immersed in the ever-present newness of Life.

Namaste
Alie

Blogging

YOGAChicago Interview

Kalamazoo, MI

Freedom Style Yoga