So Jesse started a vicious rumor on the YYTT07 chat group that he has never seen a class so close to mutiny as my advanced class last night. And the whole time I thought those people were having FUN!
Here is what we practiced. I call it "How the standing poses can teach us arm balances:
Adho Mukha Virasana
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Uttanasana
Surya Namaskar A 3X
Prasarita Paddotanasana
Parvakonasana
Utkatasana
Garudasana
Uttanasana
Sirsasana
Parsva Sirsasana
Parsvaikapada Sirsasana
Trikonasana
Ardha Chandrasana
Vasisthasana
Pasasana
Parivritta parsvakonasana
Eka pda koundinyasana 1
Urdhva prasarita eka padasana
utthita hasta padangusthasana
eka pada koundinyasana 2
Setu banhdasana
Sarvangasana
Savasana
Everyone did so well and gave such excellent effort it was a joy to watch. I even had some visitors who were "slumming" from Ashtanga Yoga Land so that was fun. (Please do not be offended- I am teasing myself on that one, not the Ashtangi's.) Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga practitioners are so strong and disciplined they are always great fun to teach and to have in class.
What was also very cool was to see how Suki and Kristen (who were YYTT students last year and in my classes a lot) were just busting out the arm balances like they were no big deal. I remember when they were just learning them. And so watching Pamela and Jesse (and others)begin to put the pieces together was fun for me because I know that if they keep with it, the arm balances will soon become no big deal at all to them.
After class Pamela said that when you first see those poses you think to yourself, "No way." Then you begin to glimpse them and you start to think that maybe they are possible after all. And then one day, you are actually doing what you thought was impossible only a few short months ago. Pamela had a totally solid eka pada koundinyasana last night, when just the day before in San Marcos it was a little shaky.
So there it is. The trajectory of learning. From "No way", to "maybe", to "look at me!" And the cool thing is not the pose itself. It is that fact that mastering the advanced postures can help each one of us realize that we can, through skillful effort and long-standing practice, grow stronger, more capable, and more masterful in our lives. Practicing what seems to be impossible can help us face what seems to be impossible off our mats. From the mundane tasks of endurance to the more heroic feats of life's many challenging circumstances.
So- standing poses teach us arm balances and arm balances teach us how to live more fully. Something like that. So, please do not mutiny- keep coming to that class and keep attempting the impossible until you find yourself shocked at yourself and your own ability.
