Friday Seattle Yoga Studio Sampler

So, Fridays are my "free" day. With the goal (that I've been recently ignoring) of incorporating more gentle, restorative yoga into my routine, I've decided to go each free Friday to a new yoga studio in Seattle. Then I'll write about it here.

The leader of my yoga retreat in January, and one of the friends I made on the retreat, have both studied with the owners/teachers at Hatha Yoga Center in Seattle, Bob & Ki. They came highly recommended, so I made this my first official Friday Sample.

Hatha Yoga Center (est. 1977) is located in a converted church in the University District. The ceiling is painted blue, the floor is carpeted, and the place is decorated with shiny pillows, candles, mirrors, and Balinese angel puppets hanging from the ceiling. I walked in and there was no front desk, no teacher evident, no waiver/information form to fill out, but students were laying out their mats and warming up. So I did the same. As I usually do in my forays to non-heated studios, I forgot to wear a comfy long-sleeved warm-up layer, so I kept my zip-up sweatshirt on.

Right at 10:00, the class start time, Bob walked in. Ki was there taking class as well. We started with some sun salutations and then used a mini-basketball to do myofascial release on the spine (self-massage rolling your spine on the ball on the floor--it's awesome.) I'd done similar things at the January retreat, with smaller balls. Bob is an incredibly experienced teacher, very intuitive at adjustments and assessing students' bodies, just looking around the room and noting that there were lots of tight-hamstring people. I was able to trust him very quickly. He's very encouraging, constantly aware of students' poses. And like any teacher who's been teaching for more than 20 years, he knows the words to say to help you *get* things. I've tried Crow I don't know how many times and just feel so afraid and unstable and never get in the neighborhood of lifting my toes up off the ground with good balance. He said "back and out"--back with the hips, lengthening out with the chest, and I got very close and it felt really good!

After the warm-up, he asked students what they wanted to do in the rest of class, but for myself and two other new students, he just said "I'm not going to ask you, I know you [indicating me] need shoulders, you need lower back..." And he's right. My shoulders are friggin knots. We did some inversions. I overcame a lot of my fear around these on retreat and now I find them challenging and invigorating! There were some partner yoga poses, and we ended with partner massage around the shoulders for a minute and a half. (Yeah!) Then at the end he just had me walk into the kitchen, and wrote down my name and marked on a calendar that I'd attended class. They only take cash or check (which I have not) so I can just owe them for a class. Very kind!

I felt just *lovely* afterward. I was reminded of something Krista said lately--that a 75 or 90-minute class is great, but even a little yoga feels so good! Not that this was a little yoga, but in my experience I would add: All kinds of yoga feel so good!

Spring & Yoga

At my afternoon class today, I was so excited because the first student to show up was one I hadn't seen all winter. He says he would get bored if he did yoga all year, although this is only his first year as a yogi. He was snowboarding all winter. We talked about how classes shrink in spring and especially summer--I know people like to do other things, but don't they like to feel the fantabulousest ever (from yoga?) Everyone isn't as crazy about yoga as I am, but this is my first summer teaching and I will be sad to see the classes dwindle--but hey--back in the day I played hookie from yoga to frolic in the sun, too! When it comes to sun in Seattle, GET IT WHILE YOU CAN.

Case in point: It was 60 degrees and sunny today and only had three students in class. I like the informal atmosphere in a small class when they're students I know well. For example, one of my students laughed at one of my tongue-tyings. When I get tangled up and can't tango on for a second, sometimes I'm afraid the students are silently judging me. I can't imagine why because I have nothing but compassion and slack to cut for my teachers. I hope everyone mustered their compassion for this little verbal train wreck: In a couple of the backbends I sometimes say: "Lift your chest, like someone is pulling up a string at your breastbone." Well, I think I'll have to eliminate that. I guess you should never say breast in your cues, because then you'll end up saying: "Lift your chest, like someone is pulling a breast..." I completely lost my cool, deer in the headlights, and then said very emphatically "STRING!"

long day

Got up and for some reason had a raging desire to clean the house. Knowing how rare and precious the urge was, I cleaned until I had to leave for my shift volunteering answering phones at the local NPR affliate's pledge drive. This was enjoyable, and I finished two crosswords. Not so good was the fact I ate a doughnut.

Why was it bad that I ate a doughnut? I did a sugar detox about a week ago--no refined sugar for seven days. Everyone asks me why I did this; I wanted to stop being an addict! Cookies, doughnuts, cupcakes, chocolates--many a waking moment were spent fiending for the next one. At the end of lunch and dinner every day, I had to feed the treat monkey and I was tired of it and I'm prone to UTIs and high sugar consumptions raises the likelihood I'll get one SO! I cracked down. Also I was inspired by a fellow yoga teacher. The first three days were the hardest, but then I felt much better. I have always known that a treat at lunch shoots my afternoon yoga practice in the foot, and of course the detox was good for my yoga. And I don't crave treats all the time, it's great! Thing is, I can't go back. I can have a leeeeetle bit of sugar (although I don't want it in my tea anymore)--like a wee piece of dark chocolate, but beyond that, it gives me a tummy ache and I have a more pronounced sugar crash than ever before. Example: today's pledge drive donut. Why why why did I eat it? About two hours later I felt like crap--dizzy, lightheaded, no energy. I really felt like lying down but persevered through my shopping and on to the yoga studio to teach because I BROUGHT THIS ON MYSELF.

Good news is, I taught a great (full) class at 4:30, took a class at 6:30 (perhaps ill-advised given the day's nutrition and the fact I hadn't packed for tomorrow's trip but I NEEDED it, hadn't practiced in a while and my neck was getting to Code Red) and taught again at 8:15. (I had so much resistance in the class--I classify amounts of resistance in a Vinyasa class by the number of times I think VERY loudly to myself: "You have GOT to be f****ing KIDDING me!"---but of course I still felt great afterward and my neck is better.) I had a snack with me but forgot to eat it before teaching the second class! So I came home and ate, returned the calls I had to return, and now I have to hose myself down and flop into bed for a few hours before hightailing it south! I'll be helping my sis pack and organize prior to moving, and I'm going to take REGULAR YOGA BREAKS! AND HYDRATE! DO YOU HEAR ME, SELF!?!??!

More training?

I'm trying to figure out two things right now:

1. How to fit in some time with my teacher Jimmy Barkan in calendar year 2007, to keep up my certification.

2. Whether to do a Power Vinyasa training this year. And with whom.

Also, my cat has climbed up on my back, clamped one front paw to either side of my head, and is furiously grooming (licking) my hair. What a freak. Cute, though.

Friday Fantastic

I hadn't taken a yoga class in over a week. So just in case you were thinking "oh she's a yoga teacher she practices twice a day I'm not worthy," well, you can cut that sh@t out! I was so busy getting ready for the garage sale, which occurred last Sunday, then was on my feet all day at the sale, didn't drink any water*, and what do you know?! Got sick on Monday afternoon. Fever, raging headache, chills, and fatigue. I did teach the 4:30 since I got up from a nap and figured out I was actually sick only 20 minutes before I had to be there to open the studio and turn on the heat (I taught most of the class sitting down and tried to send out the good energy with my voice!) but got a sub for my 8:15 class. Finally felt like myself again on Wednesday but this is the first day I got my hiney to class, a Power Vinyasa. It was great. There was one lunge sequence where I felt like I was in the Yoga Zone--I was breathing deeply, challenging my body, but staying with it and not struggling! It felt like I was floating. Delicious feeling.

When I got home, the teacher who normally teaches 4:30 today called and asked if I'd teach it. And I am full of energy, so I said Yes! I'm excited.

Today is Day 2 of my week-long Sugar Detox. I have battled the Demon Refined Sugar for so long. Unsuccessfully. I have been emailing with another teacher and SHE did it for a week and told me how (dried fruit and all-fruit spread!), so *I* can do it. So no refined sugar or honey. (White foods OK. Baby steps.) I have so many reasons:

1. Refined sugar feeds the bacteria in one's urinary tract that create a delightful habitat for the mean bacteria which cause infection. Or something like that. I'm not a doctor. But I'm UTI-prone (one went into my kidneys last year) and this is a big reason.

2. It (negatively) affects my yoga practice. When I've had a treat earlier in the day, an afternoon or evening practice feels flat, I'm often light-headed or dizzy even when well-hydrated. Last year this was enough to keep me from the treats at lunch. But of course not after dinner.

3. Sugar encourages inflammation anywhere and everywhere in the body (skin, joints, etc.) and negatively affects the immune system.

4. I don't like being a slave to the craving in my head that goes off after each meal and between meals telling me to eat something sweet sweet sweet now now now!

FYI after a week I'm going to see how I do with INDIVIDUALLY PACKAGED pieces of dark dark chocolate. Because. Chocolate.

*estupid!