Lessons of the Student Teacher

Thursday, 1/28’s gentle mat class at the Alexander YMCA drew 12 students with a broad set of yoga experiences. Two students had noticeable back issues and were positioned close to me for supervision. We built bolsters with a block and blankets for a supported rest back to help the hips, shoulders and neck to roll back and “open” more. Foot awareness was developed with emphasis on the feet each having four points of contact with the floor, placed under the knees. We explored loosening of the sacrum, S-I joints, hips, and waist in 3 dimensions, using the feet as a base and the upper body for further support. After a completing a Bridge Pose sequence (mini-lower back lift, half-lift up to the shoulder blades, full-lift up to the shoulders) to engage the core muscles. We turned over for Cat/Cow stretches to counter pose the reclining poses and moved to the Downward Dog series (half-to warm up, 1/4 to extend the side muscles, full to stretch the hamstring and activate the shoulder muscles) to lengthen the mid back and side muscles. The group arose to Mountain Pose and built further breath awareness by practicing deep centering (Hara) breaths. We engaged the legs for strength and balance with short lunges, Half Moon, and trunk bends. Combining the Hara breaths with left and right Warrior 1, Victory Pose, and vertical arm extensions created a nice rhythmic flow and heated the body up rapidly. We wound down the fun with legs up against the wall to calm the nervous system and drain fluid build up in the legs.