Working Harder for Ourselves with Maryellen Baverso
There’s a pretty high chance that if you take a yoga class at Chatham, you’ll be working with Maryellen Baverso on your vinyasa flows. Maryellen is a Pittsburgh-based yoga instructor who teaches throughout the community in addition to leading Chatham’s yoga program. Whether you’re a long time practitioner like Maryellen or a novice yogi, relying on a regular yoga practice can provide solace, stress relief, and innumerable health benefits during a continuously difficult period of time. We caught up with Maryellen to discuss what Chatham students can expect from our yoga classes, to see how the pandemic has influenced her yoga rituals, and to get a few tips for becoming more grounded each day. Check out some of Maryellen’s wise philosophies below:
Maryellen Baverso
Tell us a little bit about what led you to become a yoga teacher and how you started teaching at Chatham.
Maryellen Baverso: I started practicing when I was in high school. My older sister was actually my dance teacher and she taught me some yoga practices. In college, I was an endurance runner and my coach suggested some yoga practices to increase my breath ability. I created stronger breath through the practices of yoga and it helped me train for the Pittsburgh Marathon. I was also an RA during college, and I would do programming with yoga and meditation. I went to school for education, so it was very much aligned with what I was studying. I would start my practice-teach classes with a little bit of intention and mindfulness.
And then I joined the Peace Corps where I taught English as a second language in Indonesia. Sometimes when the language barriers got tricky, movement brought us together. I was with a farming community in Indonesia. They were really in touch with their physicality. Squatting in that culture is how you use the bathroom, it’s how you have conversations. They were really mobile and super strong. I was inspired by their incredible physical modalities and how they were living. I was able to learn about what they were doing, but also offer them techniques of meditation that they weren't as engaged with. My exchange with them was the idea of finding your breath and not getting so stuck in our heads, which is a human thing that we can all relate to. Yoga helped me feel comfortable when I was unsure, or felt unfamiliar. It brought me closer to my community and made me feel more like an ally instead of a foreigner. That experience led me to be realize, I don't really want to just teach in a classroom, I want to do a lot of other things.
When I came back to the States, I decided that I wanted to teach yoga while I figured out what to do next and then yoga just really landed for me. I started teaching at Chatham shortly after I got back, and I've been teaching here ever since. I slowly but surely ramped up my ability to teach yoga full time as a self-employed entrepreneur.
What has changed about teaching yoga during the COVID pandemic?
MB: We braved the outside for most of the semester in Spring 2020 when the pandemic originally shut things down. It was pretty incredible how many hours we got outside. When the weather did get too risky or too rainy, we moved online. And what I think everyone walked away with is the opportunity to build a practice in their own space and to feel really comfortable moving in their own way. I encourage spontaneous movement when we are doing the physical practices. I'll teach a posture, and I'll say, This is what we're trying and this is what you might resonate with. If you don't, how can you tap in a little deeper to what would inspire you in this moment? From our home base, we get that opportunity to explore a little bit more. Over the years in the classroom, I've noticed that when I say down dog, everyone is in down dog, but some people may be having a hard time in that posture because it's not as accessible [for them]. I'll give a second option but people see the rest of the class in that shape and are [more than likely] not going to take the second option. I find that the home practice encourages that. In the fall, when we did get chances to meet in person and be outside, I saw a lot more people doing what they were empowered to do for themselves. On the opposite end, I think the screen time has been hard. I've been offering breaks. I send videos of my practices and students get a break to do it on their own time during the week, and then we'll also meet via livestream. I've been trying to honor everyone's preference; some people are only motivated to do it on live stream, some people want to do it on their own.
“It’s not about the performance of the yoga postures, it’s how can we work harder for ourselves?”
What rituals do you like to incorporate into your teaching?
MB: During the pandemic, I've been trying to start with a brief meditation at the beginning. I used to go straight into movement, but I’ve found this to be helpful—especially virtually— because not everyone is logged in on time, and that's okay. The internet gets choppy or their roommate walks in. I like to start with a centering practice and then I like to invite a few different shapes that can be still or movement-based. They can be stagnant and focused on breathing and pausing, or they can be dynamic right away. That's how I like to start class and that's a big ritual for me.
And then at the end, I like to have us walk away with an intention: “What is the reminder from this experience that you can bring to the rest of your day to remind yourself that you're okay?”
What are the common aversions to yoga that you encounter and how do you combat them?
MB: I think that most students want to feel more relaxed, because they're feeling stressed. Sometimes when we do up and down, off the mat, movement-based postures, students can feel reluctant or like they are pushing up against something. But after they're done, they feel better. This doesn't have to be fast and competitive and it doesn't have to be all rest. There's a balance of both. I think that a lot of it is being influenced by social media. If you look up yoga and see hyper-flexibility or hyper-peacefulness being established in those worlds, there's this idea that you have to reach that before you even get to practice and that’s not true.
“It’s about being in the tough, hard, negative stuff that’s crowding our space. We have to bring that to the mat sometimes in order to move through it, shift it, and be in our bodies.”
If a student could take one thing away from your class, what would it be?
MB: That you can and are encouraged to ask questions. We don't give ourselves permission because we think we should already know the answers. I really encourage students to ask questions. Most likely someone else has that same inquiry. It's such a community building exercise.
How can you use yoga as a tool to combat the anxiety and depression perpetuated by this moment?
MB: Remind yourself what parts of your body are connected to the ground and what parts of your body are not. Establish what feels more stable and focus on that. Some days, your feet being on the ground is going to feel anchoring, grounding, and refocusing. Some days, noticing that you can lift your chest and relax your shoulders away from the chair is going to feel inspiring and opening. Being in touch with where your body is, and asking yourself, Okay, where are my feet? Where is my spine? What are they connected to and how is that supporting me right now? You could be in the grocery store saying these things. It allows you to be consciously aware of where you are, and to build that confidence and self-awareness.
Any other tips?
MB: An accountability buddy is a great way to build your confidence. It's a great way to remind yourself that, "Yes, I'm showing up for me, but I'm also showing up for this person. Even if we're not doing the same kinds of practices, we can check in with each other.” That can build a really strong and engaging practice. Sometimes and especially in this moment, community is hard. It’s another way to embrace being creative when we can't be together. I have a meditation accountability buddy and we have a calendar invite. It's just 10 minutes. Sometimes we text with each other before or after and it's really nice.
Interested in participating in a yoga class with Maryellen? Check out the course schedule to find a class that works for you!
