Friday Night at the Immersion

We had a good night tonight at the Immersion here in Austin. We started with a talk on the gunas and about how they relate to the doshas. We talked about the view of sattva in Anusara Yoga- that it is a place of optimal balance in the very middle. And as such it becomes a place of great clarity and creativity, the source of artistic expression. We worked with Inner and Outer spiral in a variety of standing poses and some hip opening work at the end. All in all it was a good night.

This group definitely works hard and has tremendous experience and capacity. At a certain point I noticed the group was in the pose I was teaching but they were not following my step by step instructions to activate the principles, they were just doing the pose. So I actually gave a teaching about how the teacher's instructions are intended to take us to the sattvic, creative potential of a pose and so when the teacher says something and we do not do what she is saying, it is as though the teacher is just background noise. (And in an Immersion we have paid a lot of money to have the teacher be like a television set!) As a teacher I really want my instructions to translate into observable action in my student's poses. I am looking for that specifically so when I do not see it happening or when a student is in the full pose when I am still describing step 1, I know they are probably missing the lesson because they are not following the instructions.

It was a strong teaching but the group was very open and receptive. Their studentship is really high. They are sincere, dedicated and ready to go to the next level. It is exciting to see where they have already come. Here are some scenes from the evening.

Handstand- lettie and erica
handstand- G'Nelle and Sarah

sattva is a state of balance- Brooke and James

keep the Inner Spiral in the back leg!- Olivia going up

setting up with care and clarity- Joy and Mickie

setting up

pinca modification for more power

midline- go Lettie!

pinca mayurasana- lettie and erica again

Inner Spiral self assist.

make sure your inner thigh is working!

More tomorrow!