About 10 of us met at the Fitness Center to sign in and pay up ($15) and then grabbed mats from a supply closet next to the treadmills. I got there a bit later than the others and found a wadded up, sort of stained mat was the only one left. OK. I get it -- heavy use. We left the Fitness Center and followed our instructor, a tall, very thin woman of about 35 with a mane of curly blond hair that she had to reach into and physically move out of her way frequently. It seemed to have a mind of its own. We took off on a serpentine trek through the beautiful gardens and courtyards to the beach. She led us to a shady spot on the grass where we spread our mats in a circle. The waves lapped the shore, the air was tropical warm, there was a gentle breeze under the palms. Ahhh....I was ready.
Then she turned on the audio recording of her lesson....NO! Not really! The words were coming from her mouth, but in such an automated, robotic way that it could have been a recording. Have you ever taken a tour of any kind in a strange city or tourist attraction and you just know the tour guide is on auto-pilot? It was like that.
She gave us the entire history of Yoga in, like, 30 seconds of memorized spiel. Then she had us stand, eyes closed, with hands in Anjali Mudra (together at the heart) for a very long time as she talked about the great spirits or something and I wondered if everyone in the circle who had likely come here mostly for the Mai Tais wondered what they'd wandered into. I love the spiritual aspects of Yoga and believe it to be the heart of the practice, yet she was so in robo-speak mode that all "heart" seemed lost in spite of her sort of ethereal, very groovy speaking style -- which was such a dichotomy, since she also spoke so fast! She also told us to look within and find an intention for our practice that day. I assumed many just wanted to survive it.
Finally she led us through asana practice, but wow. Again, sort of robotic and many of the poses were advanced. Regardless, she encouraged the group to "go deeper", "stretch a bit more", "lower, lower".... "hold, hold, hold". Flow and hold, flow and hold, flow and hold. Most kept up, some gave up. She didn't offer alternatives or slow down or take any cues from the class. She had a job to do and it was her way or the highway, I guess. Plus, and this is catty and nit-picky, I know, but she pronounced "body" like "boidy". Every time she said it (a lot) I snickered to myself. (OK, once out loud).
She admonished us most of the time to keep our eyes closed, but I did peek a few times. Two girls in their 20's across the circle from me were just barely going through the motions, lost or bored, I'm not sure. A couple to my left, obviously unschooled in any but the most basic Yoga poses looked bewildered and annoyed. The woman right next to me on my left was in a state of bliss as she proved herself to be the star pupil. My husband, on my right, struggled to keep up. In his defense he showed up to the class at the last minute after already doing a 5 mile morning walk. I could tell he also didn't appreciate the couple of corrections our teacher offered to him about his alignment, since she had given no indication of actual instruction before his "mistake". As for me, at the end of the class I felt I'd done a fine job of following along and realized I'm stronger than I might have thought since all the long holds weren't all that difficult for me. So that was a nice little "Hello, Ego!" boost.
As for "Yoga on the Beach", well, my feedback would be to gear it to tourists who think they will give something new a try while on vacation. The rest who may be more skilled can have a nice gentle practice; nothing wrong with that. I will say, this time the instructor was appropriately attired, which did not add that "extra something" to the class as it had a couple of years ago when we did this.
http://circlingthemat.blogspot.com/2014/06/peek-boo.html My husband was a tad disappointed.
As for my intention, it was to pay attention to class details so I could write about it for this blog. Not a very lofty goal, but a success nonetheless.
Also, and always, I appreciate Yoga Circle so much! I can't wait to get back to Yoga Circle (and my very own clean mat). Mata Ki Jai! ©
Namaste, donnajurene
As for my intention, it was to pay attention to class details so I could write about it for this blog. Not a very lofty goal, but a success nonetheless.
Also, and always, I appreciate Yoga Circle so much! I can't wait to get back to Yoga Circle (and my very own clean mat). Mata Ki Jai! ©
Namaste, donnajurene
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