Today a 72 years young lady attended yoga class, and she was game: cat-cow? downward facing dog? warrior II? extended side angle? tree? yep, yep, yep! Like always, within her ability.
I really love how diverse this class at the physical therapy office is turning out to be.
Today I gave my yoga students the option to have an extra long savasana, 3 our of 4 said yes (fourth student didn't care one way or another). My rationale being that we have done the summer time change last night, so a bit of extra rest would be welcome.
So I did an XL savasana, with both a guided body scan and a pranayama exercise (mini yoga nidra session) before settling into (gentle music) savasana.
It was a very welcome change in class, it seems :)
The yoga class I taught this morning had 8 students, it's been a while since it had more than 3 or 4.
It is always nice having more people come and share the energy.
Somehow many within the Western Yoga world continue to evade Yoga’s number one starting ethic which is *Ahimsa*, non-harm; which can also mean actively disrupting harm in the world. It’s often more cult than Yoga, sadly.
It was either in 1999 or 2000 that I first started practicing yoga. My first instructor (Ruth Meritt) told me I needed to get a yoga mat. I was pretty poor at the time because I only had a part time cashier job. But I bought the yoga mat. It was very expensive: around $60. When I questioned why I had to pay so much, Ruth told me that this yoga mat would last me years and years, but the other ones would fall apart.
She was right. My mat is at least 25 years old and is still in great condition. There are other mats in the house which aren't nearly as old, and they're not in nearly as good shape.
I haven't done any yoga at all this year so far. I miss it, but I worry about hurting my frozen shoulder during the various asanas, and I'm supposed to avoid stretching my Achilles tendons because of Achilles tendonopathy. Argh. I know there are workarounds, but I feel like I'd automatically go into positions that will make me yelp. #yoga #YogaMat #YogaTeacher
Despite being a #YogaTeacher it is sometimes difficult to maintain a personal practice. I need to get back into my regular routine with both #Yoga and #Meditation.
What benefits do you see from your yoga practice?
