dia de los exercisos
Yesterday I went to all levels slow-flow yoga at the yama studio with whiskey_poptart . It takes me a whole hour's drive to get there from my job and it's completely and totally worth it. Slow-flow *aka vinyasa* yoga is a form where moves are continuously linked to one another, with as little pauses as possible- very VERY good for a high-energy, probably ADHD kid like myself.
There are a few drawbacks to this class. First off, I do NOT believe it to be an "all levels" class as they describe it on their fliers/website. It's really an intermediate class. Why? Well, because in my viewpoint, "all levels" means that the class is taught on a beginner's level with those that are intermediate and advanced making their own adjustments to challenge themselves and, maybe, the teacher offering up/reminding them of those adjustments. The teacher last night assumed that everyone knew all of the asanas already (I've had years of yoga training and had to get used to some of her modified/more Siva Rea-esque modifications) and that lends itself to beginning students being both confused and, possibly, injured. There were times when I was in my vinyasa rhythm (which is GREAT.. it's like riding a yoga rollercoaster) and was just feeling so great and then looking around and seeing students struggling. I also had issues with her voice being so soft that I missed a lot of the moves and progressions and found myself in Warrior 3 instead of tree pose, etc. However, each new class takes a little getting used to and I am, on the whole, in love with this class. I just wish they called it "intermediate" instead of "all levels." As someone who aspires to teach yoga, it really gives my heart pangs to see beginners struggling and possibly harming their bodies- good form is so important and should be cultivated in the beginning instead of having students thrown into a flow and having them struggle to figure out what's going on.
I still bought a monthy pass to keep me honest- I'm trying to do at least two classes a week *wednesday night and Saturday morning* to keep my form up and help pick me out of the body funk I've been in for a few months. I'm also going to check out their beginner's class on Sunday (not THIS Sunday, as it is the day after Chuffed and we will be crashing in DC) to see if thewrongtim would like it.
Then I came home and did two hours of dance practice/drills *and ZILLING... oh the ZILLING*... I felt like an uncoordinated duck trying to find her footing all the time- dancing with zills (the little hand castinets/cymbals that bellydancers play) is really hard. but I'll get it. I remember back when doing snake-arms was like walking death and now they're second nature.
There are a few drawbacks to this class. First off, I do NOT believe it to be an "all levels" class as they describe it on their fliers/website. It's really an intermediate class. Why? Well, because in my viewpoint, "all levels" means that the class is taught on a beginner's level with those that are intermediate and advanced making their own adjustments to challenge themselves and, maybe, the teacher offering up/reminding them of those adjustments. The teacher last night assumed that everyone knew all of the asanas already (I've had years of yoga training and had to get used to some of her modified/more Siva Rea-esque modifications) and that lends itself to beginning students being both confused and, possibly, injured. There were times when I was in my vinyasa rhythm (which is GREAT.. it's like riding a yoga rollercoaster) and was just feeling so great and then looking around and seeing students struggling. I also had issues with her voice being so soft that I missed a lot of the moves and progressions and found myself in Warrior 3 instead of tree pose, etc. However, each new class takes a little getting used to and I am, on the whole, in love with this class. I just wish they called it "intermediate" instead of "all levels." As someone who aspires to teach yoga, it really gives my heart pangs to see beginners struggling and possibly harming their bodies- good form is so important and should be cultivated in the beginning instead of having students thrown into a flow and having them struggle to figure out what's going on.
I still bought a monthy pass to keep me honest- I'm trying to do at least two classes a week *wednesday night and Saturday morning* to keep my form up and help pick me out of the body funk I've been in for a few months. I'm also going to check out their beginner's class on Sunday (not THIS Sunday, as it is the day after Chuffed and we will be crashing in DC) to see if thewrongtim would like it.
Then I came home and did two hours of dance practice/drills *and ZILLING... oh the ZILLING*... I felt like an uncoordinated duck trying to find her footing all the time- dancing with zills (the little hand castinets/cymbals that bellydancers play) is really hard. but I'll get it. I remember back when doing snake-arms was like walking death and now they're second nature.