Lessons of the Student Teacher

Sunday, 1/3/10, began the teching year with a big WOW. The gentle mat class at the Alexander YMCA drew over 20 students, most of them new to my class. The room was packed. My plan was to utilize blankets and blocks to create an incline for a supported rest back to begin the class. This position helps relax the shoulders and opens the chest. Later, the blankets add cushion for an inverted rest back at the end of class. We used every prop, mat, blanket and even shower towels (for the late arrivals). It was a bit humorous to wing it on the fly. We practiced a breath awareness series of centering, hissing, segmented and full diaphragm breaths. Then, core movements and stretches to loosen the tail bone, S-I joints and hips. We moved to a downward dog series and eventually a range of lunges to warm up for balance poses (Tree and Pose of an Archer). The finale of an inversion (legs up the wall) helped to calm the nervous system, a classic restorative pose. For me, this was my largest mat ever and at first a bit eye opening. I eased into the flow after realizing that I could not meet most of the class. There were choppy moments due to rustiness and making sure that I did not run late. I stayed on my mat for all but two stretches.

The chair yoga class drew 8 students, a nice group. we went through Sitting Mountain as our base pose. From there we built single leg strength and opened the hip joints. The new foot awareness (four points of contact) and proper chair ergonomics (90 degree rule) was insightful for the group. We finished with a bit of shoulder rolling, drawing the shoulders in and keeping the elbows back to build better walking and sitting mechanics.