practice

Last week, with all the yoga teaching and other stuff, I only practiced once. (Still haven't started practicing at home. Note to self.) Sunday I put all that behind me and practiced Bikram. Last night I took a Power Vinyasa class from the amazing Krista. As usual, it kicked my hiney, but it also opened me up incredibly. I haven't felt that open, physically or emotionally, since training. I know this because in one-legged pigeon my torso was flat against my calf, leaning into it.* I was opening my hips into new places and it felt great. The other indication that I was Open: I was crying. I know one might think this is a bad thing, and maybe it's not good for everyone, but for me if I'm in a yoga class, and I start releasing enough negative emotion to make me weep, that's awesome. Better out than in, dude. It happened a few times in training. The class ROCKED. Power Vinyasa--it takes, but it gives back!

Then! I taught my own (75 min) class just after that class. Six students this time--it's been a few weeks since I've had fewer than five or six and that's good! I threw in pigeon at the end. Mmm.... pigeon.... And I just felt so open, calm, and relaxed the whole time as I taught. It felt good. I am really trying to come into my voice and enjoy how it sounds in the room.

This morning I was at the office and thinking my 5-class intro at Yogalife was about to run out...so I looked at their website and there was a Vinyasa class at noon! So at 11:30, I drove straight home, grabbed my mat, and raced down there just in time. I was wearing yoga-capable pants (my favorite pants--it's not a heated studio) but didn't have a top with me and hadn't wanted to dig through my dresser AND I've been needing new ones** and had part of a gift certificate left over, so I quickly explained the situation (small rib cage, big maracas) and was soon wearing something I have never worn before: a yoga/sport top with a shelf bra in which I can practice yoga without wearing a sports bra underneath. It just comes up high enough that I don't spill out the top or cleave or anything. More on that in a future post.

The teacher was excellent. It was a small class, and a little easier or gentler than the Power Vinyasa classes I'm used to. This was probably partially, but not completely, because I'm used to a heated room! But it was a really good class. Just my stability in the Warriors and Crescent Lunge made me realize how far I've come since my first Vinyasa class. She ended our class with legs-up-the wall pose with blankets sort of bolstering/cuddling our heads so they didn't move around. That, my friends, was the BOMB. I didn't read to the end of that article I linked, but I've seen the pose recommended for insomnia, and I have done it before bed and I fell asleep quicker than usual.

And it turns out Yogalife's 5-class intro doesn't expire until three months from the day you take your first class. Nice and mellow!

*Allow me to bitch here that that was the only link I was able to find with the pigeon pose that we normal people (read: non-ex-ballerinas) practice on a weekly or daily basis. Until we've been practicing intensively and/or for ten years, most of us cannot do this. AHEM.