~ Namaste ~

Archive for the ‘Back Bay Yoga’ Category

Well, due to a variety of reasons, my turn as an assistant at Back Bay looks to be complete.  I mourned last night and today am focusing on moving on;  resetting my schedule a bit and working on setting up a volunteer gig.  Hopefully there will be more on that soon!

Also taking the time now to give some general guidelines for how a Forrest class gets put together.  These are pretty top-level, basic things & I hope to give a more nuanced discussion later since I get toset the groundwork today.

Generally speaking, a Forrest class runs like this:

1) Centering/theme/intention/grounding

2)  Pranayama

3) Warm up pose or two, like a side bend, gentle twist, neck stretch, hip or shoulder opener

4) More warming/strengthening stuff.  For example,  a Dolphin/Dog variation follwed by Abs, then Bridge.   Or maybe Abs, then Bridge (to stretch abs out & lengthen low back as well as backbend prep) followed by Dolphin/Dogs.

5) Maybe more Ab work in the form of standing Uddiyana/Agni Sara/Nauli.  Maybe it’s wall time.  

6)  Moving into the “Hot Zone.”  Can start with Classical Suns.  Or go into B Series with 2-3 Standing pose variations put in.  Or a Standing Serie (5-15 standing poses done in a row on each side; no vinyasas)

7)  Perhaps wall work if not already done.  Can put wall work in lots of places.  Personally, I love it after the first warm up stuff or after doing Suns, before the meat of the Hot Zone cuz folks aren’t too tired yet.  But if the Apex pose is at the wall, it would go after everyone is nice and hot.

8 ) Apex pose.  The class ideally has been working up to this all along, warming up, getting technique & alignment set.  Depending on the class, this might be something as simple as a pigeon variation or deeper backbend, ranging on up to Scorpion or some other funky arm balance or perhaps a lotus entanglement.

9) Warm down.  Depending on the apex pose, warming down might include more abs (great for warming down!  really!), even standing poses in a simpler series (also great! really!), that wall work, or it could be more “traditional” warm downs like slow hip openers, forward bends, shoulderstand & variations, twists etc.

10) Savasana, then seated closing.  Yummmm.

That’s the jist/outline of a Forrest practice.  It gets more complicated, of course, and has lots of variations but that’s a start! 

Today’s practice has me off to Back Bay for Nicoline’s morning class & hopefully Kate’s nooner as well.   Got a good feeling about it.

Picture above is from the flight simulator.  Still thrilled about the adventure!!  In response to questions about the advice I received going in…  did not in fact eat banana beforehand to help with nausea.  We did get hot stone massages in the morning & were quite relaxed going in!   Snacked on almonds, mostly, then feasted with tapas after.  Yummm, tapas…

Went to Back Bay today & did a Vinyasa class with Nicolline Valkenberg.  She is a lovely lovely person & teacher & I intend to get back to her class Tues/Thurs mornings as often as possible.  Mostly because she is in many ways on the other end of the spectrum from me as a teacher & I have a lot to learn from her.   Calm, slow, laid back, more fluid.   Part of me is mentally doing massive gyrations of frustration while we move gently but most of me knows quite well that her style & approach is a good & necessary experience for me & excellent place to study.

My assisting at BBY is a bit in the air right now; hope to have details tomorrow about the way ahead.  I love assisting but as the schedule & Lynne’s needs shift in the new year… well, dunno.

Warming little yoga room for gentle stretching soon.   Need the extra mat time!

Happily long day.  Started the morning in a bit of a tizzy but all worked out.  Subbed Vanessa’s 10 am Forrest, took Peter’s 1215, teacher’s practice 3-5 & assisted Lynne’s 5:40 Forrest class.

Here’s the lesson plan from today’s am Forrest class.

Theme:  Work with feeling sense, let go of thinking mind
Technique: inner line of leg, active feet, active hands
Props: Blanket, block, roll (strap optional)
 
Cross legged, Sivananda breath
Knee pile: side bend, neck release, 1 set shoulder shrugs
Switch knee pile, repeat all
 
Turbo Dog
 Dolphin, one arm up at a time, then one leg at a time
Twisting abs with a mat, feet down then up
Twisted root abs, both stages

Bridge
 
Classical Suns, 4-6
 
Wall:
Down dog OR Dolphin on wall, leg lifts allowed (depends on wrists)
Chair at wall with block
Handstand OR Forearm balance, Twisted root variation
Shower at wall

Forward bend at wall
 
B series into:
- WII, Reverse, Extended side angle half bind variation (full bind option)
-  Triangle, Triangle chest opener, Half Moon(block)
- Lunge with chest opener, Pyramid, Standing Splits (balance option)
 
Down dog to seated
- Astavakara or Crow
 
Frog, belly down, over a roll

Supine twisted root

Savasana

Finishing: Take feeling sense off the mat with you.  Come back to it when the mind becomes… tricky.  Go into feeling instead.

There’s a definite order to Forrest sequencing that is probably apparent by now.  Will go into it more next week… Tomorrow, I’m off early am to visit a dear friend in Houston & don’t expect to blog while there.  However, lots of stories expected upon return.  Happy weekend!!

Today went well.  Details perhaps another time.  Tired now!  Beloved Husband & I went to a French Bistro in Back Bay called Bouchee after the excitement of the day & I am SOOOO ready for bed.  Sleepy yogi.

Here’s the tripartite lesson plan from today.  It’s semi-indicative of what went down.  Remember, this was for a Forrest then a Core then a Vinyasa class… there was some improvising especially with injury modifications.

In Forrest teacher training, sometimes a trainee is given the assignment to teach as someone else in order to get a particular quality into their teaching.  I remember one person got the assignment to teach as a rock star, for example.  Imagine Mick Jagger teaching yoga & you’ll get the idea.  It was awesome. 

Today I pretty much taught as an incarnation of Tigger.  (”The wonderful thing about Tiggers/Is Tiggers are wonderful things/Their tops…” well, you know the rest.

This is not exactly my current teaching goal, but whaddya gonna do?   Somedays, one just IS Tigger.  So I bounced around the studio for 3-plus hours, oh well.  So Heidi would have taken me behind the woodshed for my abuse of the Breath Formula.  Yeh, it happens.  (And although I am a good 6 inches taller than Heidi, I have no doubt she could kick my ass any day if she put her mind to it.  That girl’s got core strength.

The good news was being clued in enough to set an intention/theme of bringing play into the practice which allowed at least some productive channeling of my bounciness. 

Oh, and my repeat word was “toward(s).”  I am not allowed to say that word for the rest of the week.  Which should make teaching interesting.

What I actually truly, non-snarkily found interesting was that I taught my class (focused on twisting, inner rotation, inner line of the legs & opening up IT band,) then took Peter’s class & it was like he just picked right up where I left off.  Trust me, there was no coordination at all; we just went right into lunges, twisting & arm balances. 

And Peter’s vibe finally got me calmed down.  That whole “entrainment” thing where a teacher brings a class along on their mood totally works.  Phew.

(But he did also say ”towards” a few extra times.  However, I may just have been extra-aware of that word.

Good home practice today — 2 hrs goofing around with a range of ideas involving Side Plank/Vasithasana & blocks while playing random new tunes on Rhapsody.  Discovered a band called “The XX” that has an amazing eponymous mellow debut album which is officially my new favorite find.  And the fall release from Muse.  Plus the Fall Out Boy “Best Of” collection.  (Have they really been around long enough for that?  Oh yeah, well, the music of my youth is now on the oldies stations so what do I know…  

Looking forward to the week ahead.  As one of the few Back Bay Forrest teachers in town for the holiday weekend, I get to sub three classes on Wednesday, one on Friday & two next Saturday!!! 

Expect to hear “The XX”.  I might sneak Fall Out Boy in if I think I can get away with it.

Man, today kicked my ass!  In a good way, but wowza.

Mostly cuz I could not sleep last night.  Got waaay too anxious about making sure I got up in time to make it into Back Bay by 7 am, so slept in three hour increments.

Once there, super fun teacher’s practice with Lynne going through some new moves for a couple of hours.  Then assisted the Sat am class for 2 hrs.  Unwound back post-class about 15-20 minutes & that helped alot.

Totally racked out for three hours this afternoon in a well-earned nap.  And gained quite a perspective on what subbing next week’s classes will be like.  Girl must sleep more.

Some days its not about whether the bear dances well, but merely that it dances at all.

Today felt… complicated.   Subbed Lynne’s 5:40 Forrest class at Back Bay.  Which shouldn’t be complicated, really, but somehow just wound up that way!   

Guess teaching in the evening is still under investigation for me.  I’m more used to teaching in the morning, or teaching through an entire day.  Love being a bit bendier & the night crowd.   However going in for later classes does require balancing what I do during the day, and, importantly, what I eat, when & how much.  Sometimes I get it right, and sometimes… not so much.  (Note to self: Red Bones BBQ is yummy, but doesn’t sit well for yoga tummy. Even 5 hours later demoing uddiyana & lying over a roll was… entertaining!)

Taught backbends, which was a good project to work during my own 90 minute warm up practice, but added up to a thematically/technically/physically challenging class.  Felt like the proverbial bear was not just dancing, but juggling, riding a unicycle, downhill skiing & singing opera simultaneously.  Plus, was having a rabidly inarticulate day.  Those of you who teach or speak in public alot know what I’m talkin’ about.  Those days when you tangle words, confuse directions & realize halfway through a sentence that you forgot your own point.

The huge plus to all this & what I’m taking with me out of today was the feeling that I know enough of these students well enough that they are supporting me as much & more than I support them.  Their energy & good will feeds me.  That’s excellent nutrition for a dancing bear.

That’s actually a Lynne line (I totally *heart* Lynne from a month or so ago — when I heard it had to laugh because it’s something I’ve thought many times, but never articulated quite as succinctly.

Spent the morning whinging & debating getting into the studio, then Rachel needed a sub for the 5:40 Forrest class & it was like the universe smackin’ me upside the noggin — Get. Thee. To. The. Studio.

Warmed up first on my own by working through the lesson plan.  Still a little toxic in my head.  Went into Ame’s 4 pm Core Vinyasa class & that helped brighten things up & wring some of my BS out.  Left a little early to prep for my class.  Set up the room, lit the candles, burned incense (no sage handy), started the heat, breathed, greeted students, set the theme — & what I say in class, I believe wholeheartedly & drink it in myself — “You are enough, right now, as you are.  This doesn’t mean you won’t grow & change & evolve.  But it does mean that whatever you think you need to fix or do or achieve to be okay & all right is CRAP.  You are already good enough.”

I needed to say that, needed to hear it.

The eating disorder slippery slope I started sliding down this weekend  was quite simply effed up thinking.  See, what helps me in recovery is working as intuitively as possible, with all foods okay & “legal.”  Nothing forbidden, off limits or whatever because doing that just makes the food “charged” & an object of control/self abuse.  At the height of being restrictive, I had like three ”safe” foods — Fiber  One 57% fiber cereal, nonfat yogurt &  leafy vegetables.  Tasty things on their own, fine foods, but tough way to live when you feel you have to punish yourself any time you eat anything else.

In working my way out of that tiny little food box, I’ve gone through periods of being totally, happily enamored of different foods as I incorporate them one-by-one into my life.  This process has largely taken away any power something may have had.  For example, I didn’t used to even eat avocados because I thought them too high fat/high calorie.  Once I made them okay in my head, I could figure out if I actually liked them (cuz I really didn’t know) & went through a period of eating them all the time.  Now, I may have one or not if I happen to feel like it, but the avocado has no power one way or another.  Same with hot dogs.  Or candy.  Bringing them in one by one, having a bunch in the house, available to eat whenever I’m actually physically hungry allows me to enjoy it if I want some, then let it go when I’m not physically hungry anymore.

But I got caught up in a thought of  “maybe if I just restrict white flour, I’ll be healthier/thinner/better” etc etc.  Yeah.  Not a bad thing maybe for some people, can be a great nutritional adjustment, but it sends me off my nut.    Whereas I’d been totally take-it-or-leave-it about refined flour/sugar for a long time, and honestly prefer the taste of brown rice & whole grain 99.9% of the time, suddenly I obsessed over it, felt I shouldn’t eat it in public — especially not around my fellow mentees!  heavens forbid!  that’d make it obvious I’m an unworthy yogi! — which sends me right into hiding, sneaking, buying & then throwing out, or wanting to purge.

Not a road I want to wander down again.  Not a road I would allow another person to suffer through if I could prevent it in any way.  You, and I, are enough as we are.   Stay, breathe, feel. 

Really, there’s nothin’ like teaching a yoga class to get your head out of your own ass.

I’m running a day behind again… busy times, busy times.

Second mentoring day (yesterday/Sunday) started with a 3 hour combo class & assisting workshop.   Basic jist: Do a few poses, watch Heidi demo assists on one of the mentees, practice the assists on each other, then do more poses & so on.  Very productive.  It’s super helpful to do assists while getting honest feedback from people who know how the assist should feel.

In the afternoon yesterday we taught a community class — 90 minute class, full room of 60ish people taught by 8 mentee teachers — we handed off every tenish minutes. Then spent a couple of hours discussing feedback for each teacher   Frequently the feedbackprocess had the mentee teaching a pose or two to the group to practice changing whatever pattern or issue needed work.  Closed with some Q&A then I was on the road back to Baaahhhston. 

Today at Back Bay, taught my 10 am class, working the Breath Formula HARD.  It helped but needs much more practice.  Followed up by taking Peter’s class at 1215.  Amusingly, my two weeks coughing was a lot like doing kapalabhati for two weeks straight & my core muscles seem a bit stronger — while I still can’t pike up to a straddle handstand gracefully, the hops up into it are much improved!  

Also did Lynne’s advanced class at 2 pm.  It was just the ticket… very mellow class focused on a mature, sophisticated approach, really precise & slow.  I suspect she’ll make it more complicated/sweatier on other days, bu today was just deep into hips & hamstrings.  Interesting use of the bolster that I intend to steal as well when subbing her Saturday 2 hr class in a few weeks.  Sincerest form of flattery & all!!

Only real concern I had from this weekend was that some disorderd eating behavior manifested again… gotta think about that a little & will write later.

And now, finally, downtime with spouse & couch! YAY!