I literally had no expectations of Matthew Sanford's class this afternoon; I knew nothing about him as a teacher and was simply told that "I had to go" from a friend of mine. If you don't already know, Matthew is an Iyengar teacher who is paralyzed from the chest down; his paralysis gives him great insight into yoga concepts, which only adds to his comprehensive teaching style. The class's focus: learning to go inward in each yoga pose so that total integrity is given to the spine, and breath is easy and free.

We began the class by doing certain simple adjustments. Having a partner push or pull or press in certain poses can reveal the potential of those poses. But, did you ever think that pulling the skin down from knee to ankle would make your chest lighter, and breathing easier? Of that focusing on the space formed between your legs and under your arms in Warrior II would give lightness to your spine?

Matthew brought several new perspectives to my yoga, and he made me laugh. The greatest idea that I took from this class: When you look inward in a pose, letting the focus move away from the muscles and into the knowledge of space and gravity, the pose becomes whole and your mind becomes clear. One of those simple, yet profound ideas that you find so often in yoga, and then forget when you leave the class. Yet, after feeling Trikanasana supported by this thought, I commit to carrying this one back to the mat.

Posted by Melissa Gustin on January 18, 2009 11:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I took a class today for which continuing education credits were offered towards my Yoga Alliance certification (Cyndi Lee's class), but I wasn't sure how to get the credits (if she had to sign something, or what I needed to fill out etc.) Then, I saw the lovely ladies of Yoga Alliance at a table on the ground floor, kitty corner with the Luna Bar peeps. Turns out the process is really simple. The YA women gave me a form to fill out and said to just send it in with my badge or my receipt from the conference. Go see them if you have any questions--they were super helpful!

Posted by Karen Macklin on January 17, 2009 07:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Anusara is my yoga of choice and has been ever since I stepped into the Shri Yoga studio in New York City over two years ago. It is a beautiful yoga studio with amazing teachers and Desiree happens to give workshops there. I was never able to take one, which is why I was so excited to take her class this morning. Desirée is knowledgeable and dynamic, and I am pretty sure, based on this class, she can adjust any yoga posture to give injuries the room to heal, and asanas the room to grow.

Desirée's early-morning class was great for teachers. She walked us through alignment in several postures using Anusara's rather challenging basics: shins hugging, thighs inner-spiraling, sit bones separating, tailbone tucking. We then worked with partners to make proper adjustments. Desirée focused on those in the class with injuries to show teachers how to safely adjust their students. There were a lot of "wows;" some felt truly aligned in certain poses for the first time.

Desirée emphasized that when we focus on finding our own natural alignment, our emotional behavior and overall mood will react positively. This particular class was great because I, as a non-teacher, got to see this message spread to yoga teachers from all over, some of which may one day be mine or yours.

There was a point during the class where everyone in the room had arms spread wide from hearts, and heads to the sky, a group beaming from the strength of alignment. When we are aligned with our true nature, then we are free to be blissful.

Posted by Melissa Gustin on January 17, 2009 06:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Cyndi Lee started her class today by asking: If words are like asanas, and sentences are sequences, what are letters? Her answer was: the actions. In her class today called Teaching Any Pose To Any Body, she explained how to break down an asana as complicated a Badha Parvritta Arda Chandrasana (bound, rotated, half moon pose) into small steps like lunges, twists, and hand and finger exercises.

We went through a practice together and then she divvied us up into groups in which we had to come up with a sequence of our own that would be the building steps of the asana. We chose headstand, and looked at how things as small as touching one's head to the ground, and gently opening one's shoulders, can be the first step towards headstand (and even the only steps toward headstand if someone is simply not physically able to do the complete pose).

The general jist of the class was that small actions and movements are just as important as large ones. I teach private sessions, often to students who have less experience with yoga, and I found Cyndi's thoughts really helpful in seeing what's at the core of a pose. At the end of the class, we got to show our sequence and I was selected to go on stage and show it to the class. Yikes! Nah, it was fun. I don't have a photo of that, but here's one of another student doing her demo. She looks like a pro!

Posted by Karen Macklin on January 17, 2009 01:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)