bonsai yoga

it is really easy for me let myself be dissappointed. i put a bunch of energy into something and just before it is about to blossom, the bloom takes on its own life. it becomes something other than i was expecting. dammit, that is my usual response.

last night was my free class at the rec center here in moab. i had put the sequence together and took it apart 8 or 9 times. i couldn’t fill the time so i added more lunge salutes, the transition from pose x to pose y wasn’t quite right. always something. i posted fliers around town and people actually stopped me in town a few times… ‘are you the guy teaching the free yoga class?’. there is no better way to pump up my ego than by being identified by random attractive people in town.

i got to the studio half an hour early, started stretching and went over the sequence in my head. at 15 til i was on my own. at 10 til a bunch of footsteps made themselves known on the stairs. word up, i thought, here we go. a group of adults came in and looked puzzled, ‘is this the contra dancing?’, ‘uh… no. its a free yoga class.’ ‘oh, free yoga? that sounds good. thanks.’ and out they went. i was rapidly deflating. at 5 til i figured i should just do my own practice here, it is such a nice, big space when you’re the only one.

two people showed up right at 7.thats right, 2. in my head i was waiting for this massive sunflower to bloom, heaps of people excited to try koundinyasana. instead i was given two women eager to have a more or less private lesson. a nice little bonsai bloom.

at first i was a bit put off. i was really nervous and as they placed their mats out in front of i noticed that i was even agitated, directing my frustration at them. ‘whoa’ i thought to myself, ‘you need to knock that shit off right now’. sometimes it takes a stern talking to in order to get myself together.

we started with some centering in baddha konasana, more for me than for them. and then i let them know what i am trying to go for in this class. i can only teach every other week due to my work schedule. the classes are meant to be challenging, arm balances and backbends. i want to offer classes that push our limits a bit so we can start playing with our potential and inspire a home practice. they seemed keen so off we went.

we moved through the opening sequence of namaskar a and c. then a round of standing postures that i had overthought. i thought these would need to be repeated in order to fill the time. after the first round of them i saw that in class the sequence does not follow the same timeframe it did with me in my backyard.

time for some arm balances. this was just plain fun. lots of people in moab go to the pilates class because yoga just isn’t enough of a workout, so i hear. both of these women are climbers, strong, damn strong. this made the arm balances damn fun because there wasn’t a lot of fear. or if there was, their experience on the rock has allowed them to temper that fear. we did more arm balances than i intended mainly because they were so eager to try this. crane came to both of them rather quickly, hurdler or koundinyasana 2 wasn’t far behind. kim lifted herself into it while chelsea was trying to figure out how to contract her abs while laughing. this is my kind of yoga.

the backbends came next and again, we went farther than i intended. both of them were flexible and willing to push it a bit. i started to get nervous again here. i have come across lots of trepidation and caution with backbending and for good reason. this time it was my turn to play with my fear. as a teacher now, should i play with my fears in class? is it possible not to? i thought we could try viparita dandasana. just try it out, upward bow with forearms on the ground. i demonstrated the pose then i explained what happened to me when i first tried it. i had a quick contraction in my erector spinae as i began to straighten my legs. not a cramp, but a very new movement for that muscle that was not appreciated. chelsea experienced something similar. oh no! i injured my first student! she was fine. a few forward folds and a twist and we were lawsuit free.

it was a strange bonding experience. i was surprised that my muscles and hers reacted so similarly. i wondered what would make this so. both climbers? both people? both people trying yoga?

kim was doing great. rooting with her forearms, giving her heart lots of lift, her legs began to eke forward. i was psyched.

we had time for 5 minutes of savasana which i was glad to utilize. this pose taught me a lot this past week. but i am sick of typing right now.

asana sequence

baddha konasana for a few minutes

surya namaskar a x5

surya namaskar c x6

utkatasana

virabhadrasana 1

virabhadrasan 2

utthita parsvakonasana

prasarita padottanasana

repeat warriors and side angle on other side facing rear of room and come back to wide legged forward fold

utkatasana

parivritta parsvakonasana

parsvottanasana

horse stance

repeat facing rear of room and come back to horse

utkatasana

crescent moon with quad stretch

deep lunge (both forearms on floor inside of left foot)

crescent moon

plank

quad stretch other side

deep lunge

plank

down dog

malasana

supta bakasana

bakasana

parsva bakasana

koundinyasana 2

pigeon

galavasana

ustrasana

quad torture at wall w/ backbend

bridge

upward bow

upward bow at wall

happy baby

viparita dandasana

supine twist

plow

supported shoulderstand

savasana