Anusara

I love my Astanga practice, but it’s really fun to do something different. This morning, I decided to try a 60 minute Anusara class offered on YogaToday. This novice level class was called ‘Expansive Heart Openers’, and taught by Neesha Zollinger.

This is definitely a beginners class and the pace moved slowly. No sun salutations, just modified vinyasa with Chaturanga and Bujangasana. The flow was simple throughout.

There were two poses that would be challenging to someone brand-new to yoga. Full Vasisthasana (side plank) was taught without modification on the first side, then an alternative was offered for the second side. This didn’t make sense to me. When I teach beginners, I offer the easy mods first, then offer more difficult versions for those who feel ready for them.

There was also a lunge/quad stretch that could be tricky for students with bad knees. However, done correctly, this is an amazing stretch for the iliopsoas, so I quite enjoyed it! It was one of the high points.

The other tidbit that caught my attention was a standing shoulder stretch. It’s hard to describe, but I’ll give it a try:
1) Standing comfortably, put the hands behind the head with the elbows angled out to the sides
2) Press the elbows *forward* while at the same time, pulling the shoulder blades towards the midline.

This has the effect of puffing the chest out while bringing a subtle bend into the upper back. Classic Anusara heart opening stuff, but I was digging it.

What I didn’t like: The instructor’s chatter during this class. She often spoke when the moment called for silence. One of these moments came near the end of the class: She FINALLY shut up, only to start chattering about what ‘students should do when the teacher is silent’ (the answer: 'go within', not that she gave us a chance to do that).

Oh, and her constant, cloying use of the word ‘expansive’ was driving me NUTS. There were three instances of cringe-inducing cliches that had me rolling my eyes. The left/right cueing was off, but that didn't bother me as much as the inconsistency in the way postures were presented. There were a couple instances where a pose was taught so differently between the two sides that it created an imbalance.

Overall impression: Not impressed. At the end of the practice, I didn’t have that warm, post-yoga glow-y feeling. In fact, I didn’t feel like I’d done any yoga at all. This is the second YogaToday class that I’ve tried and have not enjoyed. I’m starting to appreciate the high quality of the YogaDownload classes. Even the worst YogaDownload class is far better than this.

I took a State-of-the-Backbend photo yesterday, after my Primary+5Intermediate practice.

I think I’m starting to see some progress. For comparison purposes, here are two backbend photos. The first is from a month ago:

December 17

February 12

Vinyasa

The ‘holiday vibe’ is beginning to wear thin. I’m really starting to miss my routine: early to bed, early to rise, twice daily meditation, healthy meals. I was going to try to move back into that schedule this week, but it didn’t make a lot of sense, given that I’m up very late for New Year’s Eve anyway. I’ll definitely get back into the swing of things over the weekend though - I must.

For years, I’ve endured almost constant construction and renovation in this stupidly over-priced building with little benefit. But the amenities are coming: last week, management announced the opening of the gym. I checked it out and discovered it isn’t bad! There’s an elliptical trainer, a stair climber, a treadmill, some weight stuff. Lots of room for yoga. And free yoga classes, which happen to fall on a night that I already teach (not that I would be very interested in ‘beginning yoga’). There’s space for practising inversions and the gym seems to be empty during the workday.

For years, rumours circulated that there was a ‘hidden sauna’ in the basement. I always scoffed, but the those rumours were true! Who knew?! The sauna reopened along with the gym and it’s obviously an old, retro sauna that was cleaned up. But it works fine. I used it this morning. If I want a serious sauna experience I’ll need to heat it up ahead of time but I was toasty warm for my practice.

I also found out last week that I have free use of the gym facilities at the neighbourhood community centre I work at. This is a boon because they’re close by and they have particularly nice facilities - salt water pool, sauna, steam room, whirlpool and a full range of fitness classes. I have access to all of it now. No excuse for not going to the gym! I have three to chose from (I also can use the small gym I teach at downtown).

I had big plans for my practice this morning which fell through because I lost track of time. I had planned to do the free weekly class over at YogaToday, but ended up doing a shorter one, ‘Opening to Hanumanasana’ with Adi. I was not terribly impressed with it, given that the video froze up about 16 minutes into the practice. I already had the gist of what Adi was doing with the sequence so I improvised for the last 10 minutes and did a 5 minute Savasana. I may give this site another shot, maybe tomorrow, maybe the 60 minute class.

The announcement went out for WoYoPracMo yesterday and I’ll excited about it. Even though I’ve been practising daily all year, it’s a great boost to renew my commitment. Plus, I’ll have a posse again, at least for a month! Are any of you planning to participate?