Monday Night

So it’s a bit hard to believe that June is almost over.

The weekend in Viroqua was a lot of fun. We worked on standing poses, arm balances and a few backbends on Saturday morning and dove deeply into the ever-exciting work of virasana on Saturday afternoon. (I love classes where poses like virasana and down dog are peak poses! I know that kind of work is an acquired taste for many and some actually never acquire it at all, but that is another story...) Sunday morning’s practice was fun as well. We did a fair amount of flow, with some arm balance work, some deep hip opening and a pretty decent foray into eka pada rajakpaotasana. All things said and done, I think the classes all worked together nicely to provide a pretty well-rounded experience.

The group was sincere, hard working and well-trained. It’s always fun ot work with a group of people well-steeped in our practice and methods because then we are able to go much deeper than the average introductory discussion of Inner and Outer spiral and really examine the architecture of the different poses, how they relate to one another and so forth.

Don’t get me wrong, I also love weekends where I am pioneering the method somewhere. In fact, a lot of the teaching I do and have done over the years has been introducing people to the method in what I hope is a clear, organized and precise fashion. A huge part of how a visiting teacher can really serve outlying areas is by doing just that. It is very rewarding and necessary work to do-- to bring the method to places where there is a fledging community of Anusara Yoga practitioners and to help people “get it” when they do not have access to ongoing public classes and so forth.

Also fun are weekends like this one in Viroqua, WI and last weekend in Athens, GA- where the majority of the students in the room are already well-trained and “on board” with the method because then, with all the preliminary work our of the way, I can do a different kind of teaching with a group. So, I like both. Each situation calls for a certain kind of creative response which is probably why I like them both.

I had a great time spending time with Meg. We have practiced asana together so much over the years and learned so much together that its always a wonderful homecoming for me to roll out a mat with her and practice. Viroqua is an interesting town. It is in the heart of The Organic Valley and is a kind of oasis of rural, organic farming, Waldorf education and radical family values and fierce community ties. It is one of the most beautiful, lush and fertile places I have visited and there is a wonderful sanity, dignity and authenticity there- in the land itself and in the people who choose to live there.

Also very real there is a sense of purpose and conscious sacrifice in order to benefit from such a sanctuary. It is not easy to make a living there, there are very long, dark and cold winters, there are no great restaurants nor are there many modern distractions for entertainment. It is somewhat remote- 2 hours from Madison by car and in many places, your cell phone will not work!

So, all that being said, it’s a wonderful place and the people who consciously choose a certain measure of hardship in order to live there, do so because they find a depth of friendship with fellow travelers, a camaraderie in consciously parenting their kids, a connection to the earth from living so closely with its cycles, its harshness and its bounty, and in general I found the people there to be without vanity, pretension or avarice of any kind. And it was a cool 78 degrees which was a lovely break from Texas and Gerogia this tiume of year!

Well, enough of that for now. I am happy to be home and ready for a fun week ahead- classes at The Castle, One Om Event, the Texas Yoga Retreat and Laurie Blakeney's Iyengar Yoga Workshop. Good times.