INTRODUCTION
DEFINITION OF FORREST YOGA
Breath • Strength • Integrity • Spirit
GO DEEPER

"My intent in teaching Yoga is to do my part in healing the Rainbow Hoop of the People; to inspire people to clear through the stuff that hardens them and sickens their bodies, so they can walk freely and lightly on the earth in a healing way, in a Beauty Way." – Ana Forrest

Ana has been developing Forrest Yoga since 1982. In 2014, Ana & Jose began co-creating the evolution of Forrest Yoga. Jose brings his compassionate business wisdom, Ceremonial stories, traditional dance and song, Ancient Healing Technologies, as well as his original narratives and music. Ana & Jose now co-teach all of their offerings together. This exquisite practice addresses physical and emotional challenges as well as providing tools to reconnect one’s Spirit. Intense pose sequences, compassionately taught, develop skills in awakening each of the senses. Forrest Yoga teaches students how to bring aliveness, using breath, into every cell of the body. This ignites passion for living.
The pillars of Forrest Yoga are: Breath, Strength, Integrity and Spirit. The mission of Forrest Yoga is to create a sense of freedom, a connection to Spirit, and the courage to walk as Spirit dictates; thus, doing one’s part in “Mending the Rainbow Hoop of the People”. Forrest Yoga teaches you how to Go Deeper, find your Truth, and then, take these gifts Beyond the Mat into the rest of your life. As a beginner to Forrest Yoga, you learn to breathe deeply and connect in feeling with your body. As you progress, you get proficient at safely tailoring each pose to work best for you; particularly with physical and emotional injuries. Learning to work honestly at your edges, you develop effective tools to deal with fear, struggle, and breakthroughs. This makes it possible for integrity, self-awareness and playful curiosity to become part of your daily life. Forrest Yoga gets you strong and centered by connecting you to your core. It uses heat, vigorous workouts and deep breathing to sweat out toxins. The long holds in the pose sequences help you flush, oxygenate, and rejuvenate every cell. Forrest Yoga does not require strength or flexibility; it only requires that you bring a willingness to learn how to feel authentically and respond honestly. As you advance in Forrest Yoga, you learn to intelligently ride your breath into the thrilling advanced poses. You also exercise your emotional body through the full feeling spectrum; from the healing process all the way into the ecstatic realms riding Jose’s Shamanic music.
Forrest Yoga honors and celebrates the beauty of life and the power of Spirit. It is an inspiring yoga life practice that builds flexibility, intelligence and strength while helping deepen the relationship with your authentic Self. Accessing your intuition - the voice of your Spirit - builds personal strength and ushers integrity into your daily interactions with all beings. Forrest Yoga challenges you to heal, evolve and welcome your Spirit home. Ana Forrest & Jose Calarco Honor and Acknowledge the Traditional Custodians (past & present) of the Sacred Land we stand on. This is, was, and always will be First Nation’s Territory. Traditional Elders teach us that the land actually owns the people. Therefore, we honor all our relations, the animals, trees, rivers, mountains and the Great Spirit.

Ana & Jose’s Spirit Pledge to Mend the Rainbow Hoop of the People

FORREST YOGA HAS HISTORICALLY SUPPORTED DIVERSE COMMUNITIES
Ana & Jose have dedicated their entire lives to mending the “Rainbow Hoop of the People”. They have taken their combined lifetimes of teachings, experience, and wisdom to the four corners of the planet, offering healing and hope to people of every race, creed and color. For years, Forrest Yoga has offered scholarships to a cross-section of the community, including Indigenous, Military, and People of colour, and will continue to do so. Forrest Yoga teachers are required to offer free yoga classes to underprivileged communities as part of their certification. Ana began this process herself at the turn of the century in the heart of gangland, South Central Los Angeles. “A Place Called Home” (APCH) was a rehabilitation Community Centre for gang members, predominantly comprising of POC and Hispanics. The School was created by Forrest Yoga Teacher Debrah Constance, (author of Fat, Stupid and Ugly) who invited Ana to collaborate in a program called “Yoga in the Hood” Ana tirelessly promoted APCH, giving television interviews, yoga classes, and fundraising, in order to increase social awareness of the problems in destitute communities and provide better equipment and facilities for the students. Ana also sponsored people from this school, offering places in her workshops and trainings. Ana’s many years of work and contributions to APCH and gangland communities, saw her become the first Yoga Teacher to receive the Mayoral Commendation in California. Ana received the award from Antonio Villaraigosa, who served as Mayor from 2005-2013.

The following guidelines are designed to strengthen and broaden the Forrest Yoga community while bringing harmony and consistency to its teachings. Everything you do as a teacher reflects who you are and what you believe, so as a teacher it is important to be conscious of your behavior. Whether you realize it or not, your students are scrutinizing you. The gift of this examination is that it creates an impetus to “walk your talk.” So often we teach what we most need to learn. Continue to learn with your teaching. Live in a way that you are proud of. Adhering to these guidelines ensures that the integrity of Forrest Yoga will be maintained in your studio and classroom so that students will receive the maximum benefit of this modern, dynamic, progressive and deeply spiritual style of yoga.

A Forrest Yoga Room

Create a safe and sacred environment for you and your students to work in:
● Heated Room – Set the room temperature between 80-85 degrees.
● Cleansed – Burn sage/cedar or sweet grass to clear energy of the room; if possible incorporate an air purifier.
● Floor & Walls – Provide clean, hard flooring (preferably wood) with plenty of wall space.
● Kleenex in the Yoga room.
● Appealing Facilities – Provide a clean, inviting studio with fully stocked bathrooms. Make sure the space is clean, quiet, of adequate size, and pleasant to be in. You may not have full control over all aspects, depending on where you are teaching, but do what you can to ensure a good class experience. Know that the classroom space will affect the class for better or worse.

A Forrest Yoga Teacher

As a Forrest Yoga teacher, it is your responsibility to be prepared emotionally and intellectually for the challenges and rewards of teaching this style. First year teachers: organize your class plan before class, focusing on what you want your students to learn. Communicate clearly so they can experience the benefits of your teaching and the style of Forrest Yoga. After your first year, begin to read your student’s energy during pranayama and teach what is most appropriate for the class. This process may take time, so continue to create your class outline until you feel confident in working with the energy of the class.

Cleanliness
● Clean clothes, not tattered or worn – NO HOLES.
● Garments that cling, to make it easy to see what you are demonstrating, but that are not revealing.
● Well-groomed hands, feet, and hair.
● Clean, odor-free breath and body – no heavy oils, perfumes or aromas.

Punctuality
● Begin and end your classes on time – respect your students’ time.
● Arrive 20-30 minutes before class. It is important for a Forrest Yoga teacher to be available to their students to discuss any injuries, illnesses or emotional issues going on for them. New students will have questions and this time offers an excellent opportunity for the Forrest Yoga teacher to interact with the students so they get a chance to feel the personal nature of a Forrest Yoga class.

Ethics & Responsibilities
● Teach by the standards set forth in your Forrest Yoga Teacher Training and manual (including, and not limited to):
− Know, write down, post, and live by your ethics.
− Develop and practice clear and professional boundaries that are in alignment with your ethics, and recognize your students’ boundaries as well (including, but not limited to: emotional, financial, sexual and confidentiality boundaries).
● Authenticity – teach authentically, honestly, and responsibly:
− Examine the truth of what you say and teach, and be clear about why you teach what you do.
− Use your Authentic Voice: check and eliminate monotone voice and repeat words. Stay out of “teacher voice drone”.
− Speak, touch, and demonstrate clearly: communicate verbally, with touch, and with demonstration in a way that is congruent with your intentions and as taught in the Forrest Yoga Teacher Training.
− Teach with passion and from your experience and love of yoga.
− As a teacher, you are acting as a leader. The standards you hold yourself to should be higher than those of your students.
− Have policies set regarding attendance, absences, refunds, and cancellations. Include how you handle the money relating to these situations. Your needs will differ depending on whether you are teaching a course, an on-going class, or privates.
− Know that you may need to be flexible in certain cases, so have a fallback plan ready. Be sure to determine what your absolute limits are in any situation.
− Have policies set for how the students should come to class. For example, come to class clean, no perfume/cologne, arrive with an empty stomach (avoid eating 2-4 hours before class), dress comfortably, avoid zippers and loose short shorts, and leave your jewelry at home for your own comfort and for the safety of the jewelry.
● Continuing Forrest Yoga education and training.

Communications
● Speak and touch clearly - communicate through verbal and non-verbal means as taught in the Forrest Yoga Teacher Training.
● Use your Authentic Voice – use your tone of voice and the class dialogue effectively to communicate your intentions.
● Use complete sentences. Keep your communication complete and clean.
● Avoid using slang.
● Watch for repetitive sounds or words, (i.e., o.k., umm, we’re gonna.)
● If there is any doubt, take an extra step to make sure that a student understands you.
● Check and eliminate monotone voice and repeat words.
● Teach with passion and from your love of yoga.

Principles of Forrest Yoga
● Teach authentically.
● Work with injuries and tailor poses to address an individual’s specific needs - explore the inherent attitudes that are a part of one’s injuries and examine how those attitudes perpetuate those injuries.
● See energy on an anatomical and energetic level to better witness the whole truth of what our students are living. Make your pose choices and adjustments appropriately.
● Use safe and effective hands on adjustments, prioritizing and tailoring them to create profound and freeing changes in your students.
● Develop your presence and self-awareness in class - do not bring your own rackets or drama into the classroom before, during, or after class.
● Teach/guide your students to strengthen the entire body, embody spirit, connect to the core, heal physically and emotionally as well as speak and live authentically. They learn by your example.
● Teach your students to awaken their inner fire and to discern the voices of their conditioning versus the voice of their spirit.
● Find out, with the students, what their truth is at that moment and help them to hone their skills to live and grow their truth.
● Guide your students toward embodying spirit and working to free whatever may restrict that.
● Promote emotional healing: Give permission and create the space for each student to release their emotional backlog (i.e. crying, rage, laughter, shaking). Educate the student that this release is a road to freedom; as Ana explains: “it’s the gift of yoga, it’s one of the ways of creating freedom, as the emotional backlog imprisons different parts of us, we can hone our skillfulness in riding the emotional waves and release. Go for it, it can be really exciting, exhilarating!” The release of this backlog literally frees that part of us that was imprisoned.

A Forrest Yoga Class

The science and philosophy woven into a Forrest Yoga class continues to be honed by Ana Forrest and Jose Calarco. A Forrest Yoga class follows specific guidelines of sequencing, breath, themes, intent and respect. The magic of Forrest Yoga has developed out of years of research and practice; therefore, the sequence and the appropriate choice of poses are integral keys to teaching authentic Forrest Yoga. The Forrest Yoga sequence is much like climbing a mountain; slowly and with deep mindful breathing working your way to the peak, enjoying the exhilarating view and then making your way down again safely and compassionately. The Forrest Yoga formula for a class remains constant; however, as its shepherd you are free to choose the variable poses that will guide your students in the direction your intention is taking them for that particular class. Use the Forrest Yoga Pose Sequencing Outline as a guide and refer to your manual when you need assistance.