First Day of School

I went to the first session of my yoga class yesterday. I think I’m really going to enjoy it. The yoga practiced at Unity Woods is Iyengar yoga. They pay precise attention to body alignment in the poses and use props to ensure everyone can do the poses just right, regardless of their flexibility.

So our first class was really focused on the feet and legs. The instructor said as we get more in tune with our posture in our legs and feet we will move on with the rest of the body.
The classes are 1.5 hours and we actually didn’t do too many poses, but rather spent a lot of time getting the poses we did just right. We’d do them against the wall or with a chair to see how our bodies should look and feel in the poses, and then we’d do them again in the center of the room on our mats, using what we learned with the props. I could really feel the difference in doing Triangle or Warrior poses – poses that anyone who has done yoga ever is familiar with. But I can honestly say that this time truly felt different, my body felt more engaged, like it was working much harder.

I’m also excited that it’s a 12 week course. Usually when you just pop in a yoga class they do poses of all different levels, and sometimes you’re just not ready, or you try it but you aren’t familiar and so you don’t quite get it right. Since this is a series of 12 courses, our instructor will know exactly where we are and we focus lots of time learning each one correctly, so we’ll be getting the full benefits.

The only minus – my instructor talks a little like that guy from Office Space. He’ll say something and end with an “mmm-hmmmm” “ooooooookayyyyy” And he does it A LOT! It’s a little humorous, but mostly annoying.

Our homework (yes, people! Homework for yoga!!) is to practice at least 20 to 30 minutes a day.