Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Suiting the Class to Your Practice

As My Yoga Sanctuary is a new studio, there will be new students who are beginners who have not done any yoga before joining the class. Whenever this happens, the class becomes harder for us as Azmi has to slow down the pace of the class to cater to the newcomers. The slower pace of the class means longer holds in the poses and sometimes compromising our breathing to the pose as we wait for the cue for each movement.

Sometimes when you are in such a class, you will feel annoyed and frustrated ( feelings which you should not be having in a yoga class). So, what can you do when you find yourself in such a situation?

It is important to remember that the teacher is there only to lead the class by guiding and assisting you in the poses and how the practice turns out depends all on you. So, set your intention to suit the class to your practice. While listening to the instructions from the teacher, focus on coordinating your movements to your breathe instead of just following the teacher’s instructions with your movements. When the teacher asked the beginners to go down on their knees-chest-chin to cobra during the sun salutations sequence, it is alright for you to be doing chaturanga to upward dog.

As Azmi always gives us the options to do the variations for the poses, I don’t wait for his cue to do the advance version of the pose as I already know which poses I can go deeper. By suiting the class to my own practice, I learned to listen to my body and know what my body and mind need at any given moment to reap the benefits of the practice.

"Yoga is not an external expression. It is something we experience inside, deep within our being. Yoga is trying in every action to be as attentive as possible to everything we do."- TKV Desikachar

No comments: