Friday Morning

Just a brief entry before heading out to Salt Lake City, Utah for the weekend.

Yesterday was a full day. I subbed for Gioconda yesterday morning at Castle Hill. That went reasonably well. Several people told me it was challenging which I found intriguing because I have been to her class and it is not easy. And I made every effort to keep the class on the soft side! (That was me being mellow!So go figure.) Her students are very nice and they have such a lovely rapport with one another and they were welcoming and repsectful and truly a pleasure to be with. I also really liked the natural light of the upstairs Lotus Room at Castle Hill.

I think for me flow is a very hard kind of yoga to teach in a way consistent with "how it is generally taught." (ie: in a way that students like and enjoy!) Maybe because I did almost no flow practice- other than Asthanga Vinyasa- until my asana practice was advanced and I was reasonably proficient. So by the time I started practicing flow I could do a lot and could practice very hard and I knew a lot about alignment. So I seem unable to teach flow that is basic and comes across to the student as moderate. (Ah well... I have other talents....sigh.)

At 4:30, for the Level 2-4 class, I had planned a deep hip opening class with some fantastic refinements of inner spiral to get us deeper into the inner groins and while there was a nice group that came, only 3 of them were people who had ever come to that class. So while I offered much of the same class I had planned, it really got me thinking about changing that class from Level 2-4 to Level 2-3 since in order for me to teach a 75-minute advanced-level class safely and effectively, I have to have a group that is regular and consistent. Without that kind of continuity it is just dangerous, ineffective and disjointed-and worst of all, the student doesn't even get the glimpse of how the details fit into a larger scheme of the practice. So I am entertaining that change for the fall schedule. I will keep you posted.

My 6:30 practice at Breath and Body was amazing. (for me, at least!) Again, we were few in number but I taught- like I have been teaching all week- some of the work that John passed along to me last weekend. I cannot believe the ease and opening those refinements are creating for me in my back bends. Kapotasana came easy, urdhva danurasana was smooth and this morning I am hardly sore although I was in some of the deepest back bends I have been in in a while. And we planted a lot of seeds to draw upon in the future for scorpion. So fun.

okay- gotta pack and head to the airport. Salt Lake City here I come. Can't wait.