A response to my last post got me thinking about all the crowded yoga classes in January and February. It’s true that a lot of people flock to yoga studios at the beginning of the year because they are all amped up to get back into their yoga practice or maybe start yoga for the first time. In my experience as a yoga teacher, this initial wave of enthusiasm slowly trickles off over the subsequent months. By November and December, with all the holidays, traveling, shopping, parties, etc., New Year’s Resolutions are long forgotten, and classes are back down to a more reasonable size. Only the most dedicated students are still coming to class with any regularity at the end of the year. What’s this all about?
Now that I no longer teach yoga, I spend far less time at the yoga studio and attend fewer classes. I still practice yoga about 4 times a week, but more and more of this is happening at home. As many people can attest to, developing a self-practice is incredibly difficult, sometimes seemingly impossible. (I did it once before, when I first moved to Bloomingon, but I’m finding it much harder to start up this time around.) Over the next few months, as I struggle with my own home practice, I’ll post here periodically to share with readers some of my challenges and any small victories. (more…)
Filed under: Yoga Bloomington
I’ve decided to stop teaching yoga at Bloomington Power Yoga. My final class will actually be tomorrow, December 19th, and 4:00pm. Most of my students have probably already left town for the holidays, but if anyone is around, I’d love to see you in class. It’s supposed to be an Ashtanga class, but, most likely, I’ll teach it as a Level 2 flow class.
I started Bloomington Power Yoga back in February of 2007, as a one-man operation out of a living room in someone’s house. I started with just one class, a Sunday evening “candlelight flow class,” and within three years BPY has grown to include 6 teachers and over 14 classes a week. It’s been an amazing experience for me to teach yoga, something I never really thought I’d do. Ultimately, though, I don’t plan to make a career out of teaching yoga (even though I have entertained the idea before), and now I need to devote more time to my actual career, which is as a philosopher. The rest of the teachers at Bloomington Power Yoga will continue on without me, and I’m sure they will take good care of all our wonderful and dedicated students.
There’s a small possibility that I might teach yoga again here in Bloomington, if not at Bloomington Power Yoga, then somewhere else. But, as of now, I am switching gears and focusing more on my PhD studies. Of course, this doesn’t mean that I’ll stop practicing yoga, and, if anything, not teaching will give me more time to focus on my own practice. It might also mean that I’ll be posting more on the blog, especially on topics having to do with self practice, specific postures, and yoga and rock climbing.
For the past few months, I’ve been teaching an Ashtanga Primary Series class once a week at Bloomington Power Yoga. Overall, I’d say it’s gone well, although I’ve had to modify the sequence quite a bit to accommodate the experience levels of the students coming to my class. This has resulted in a slower paced class that omits about 8-12 poses (mostly seated postures and a few of the finishing poses). From what I understand, this type of modification is quite typical in an hour and a half Ashtanga class, and it is all the more necessary when dealing with a lot of students who are relatively or completely new to yoga. Of course, the downside of modifying an Ashtanga class too much is that when you get a serious Ashtangi in your class, he/she is probably not going to be happy. This is exactly what happened yesterday, and I was especially surprised at how forward this student was in telling me all the things I did wrong in teaching my Ashtanga class. (more…)
Almost a year ago, I stopped playing music entirely in my yoga classes. When I practice on my own at home, I also no longer play music. This move to “silent” yoga has been a long time coming for me, but lately I’ve actually been thinking about eventually reintroducing music into my classes and my personal practice. I still have strong reservations about this, though, and probably won’t do anything differently in the immediate future. (more…)
Filed under: Yoga Bloomington
The teachers at Bloomington Power Yoga would like to say “Thank You!” to our students with a free class on Thanksgiving Day. It’ll be an all-levels flow class, team-taught by all of the BPY vinyasa teachers.
The class will be from 11:00am – 12:30pm, with some snacks and drinks afterwards. You don’t need to pre-register, but you might want to come early to make sure you get a spot.
(Please note that our regular Thursday classes will be cancelled on Thanksgiving.)
Filed under: Yoga Musings
What constitutes an “advanced” yoga practice? A lot of people think that an advanced yogi is someone who attends the hardest (i.e., the most physically demanding) yoga classes in town, and has mastered difficult backbends, inversions, and other Cirque du Soleil tricks. I certainly used to think like this, and am still sometimes prone to do so. Over the past year, though, several considerations have forced me to reevaluate my conception of advanced yoga. (more…)
Filed under: Yoga Bloomington
The Fall 2009 schedule at Bloomington Power Yoga starts today! Here are the major changes and additions:
- Saturday 4:00-5:30 PM Ashtanga (Eugene)
- Sunday 11:00-12:15 PM Community (Teacher Rotation)
- Tuesday 7:45-9:00 PM Level 1-2 (Stephanie)
- Thursday 7:45-9:00 PM Level 1-2 (Marissa)
- Friday 11:00-12:30 PM Kundalini (Jill)
We’ve also updated our rates. Single classes and class packages have gone up slightly in cost, but we dropped our monthly unlimited all the way down to $100.
Filed under: Yoga Musings
Almost every time I teach yoga, at least one student says, ”My yoga mat is too slippery!” This can be a real problem, especially for newer students, as well as for those who practice hot yoga, strenuous or vigorous forms of flow, or Ashtanga. I’ve made a number of mat recommendations in the past, but non-slip yoga mats and Yogitoes don’t work for everyone. Today, I want to say a few more things about slippery yoga mats, perhaps some things that will be surprising to a lot of people. (more…)
Filed under: Yoga Bloomington
We have a new addition to the Bloomington Power Yoga schedule: Zazen. Zazen practice is basically sitting meditation. We sit for 30 minutes. There is no chanting, music, or any other distractions during this type of meditation. The objective, if we can call it that, is simply to sit and observe one’s thoughts and one’s mind. Pretty simple.
For newer students, there will be a brief introduction at the beginning of each session, and someone will stick around afterwards to answer any questions.
When: Saturdays 5:30-6:00PM
Where: Blooming Lotus Studio (same place where yoga class meets)
Cost: Small Donation
To learn more about Zazen, drop by the Sanshinji Zen Community on Olive St., or check out their website.
