FLIP SIDE OF 'CHAIR YOGA'

I have taught Gentle Yoga classes for 10 years now.  The longer I am in one spot, the classes grow and flourish -- even when I bring out the props.  The one 'prop' that can send people running, however, is the CHAIR.

The CHAIR denotes something to some people that is truly unacceptable.  

For me, it brings up a vision of a chair yoga video I purchased many years ago - when I was looking for ideas.  That video included about 10 people in a circle, seated on chairs, flapping their arms in the air.  I looked at those 10 80-year-olds and thought, 'oh my, what is that doing to their shoulders' and immediately turned the video OFF.  Maybe that's what other people visualize, as well, ya think?  

Well, I have news for those 'some people' and myself -- CHAIR yoga with Desiree Rumbaugh is as hard, if not harder, than many yoga classes I have tried.  And, I saw 50+ year olds in yesterday's practice working on the chair, doing poses like urdhva dhanurasana (with feet on the chair); scorpion (bring feet down to the chair); and shoulder stand (shoulders on a stack on blankets; hips on the chair seat).  

We spent 2 hours, in which almost every pose involved the CHAIR.  

I need to quickly sit down and write a list of the creative ways we used the CHAIRS, so that I can once again bring them out, bar the doors, and give students a dose of this fun way to open, align and support themselves in their yoga practice.  Interestingly, as hard as we worked, I am not sore this morning - yet. We'll see as the day goes on and I move around a little more aggressively.  

What else have I been up to since writing 21 days ago in this blog?  Teaching, teaching and more teaching.  I also am still taking guitar lessons, and I have squeaked in a workshop with Doug Keller, as well.  

Wow!  I thought Doug's books were good; he, in person, is great!  I'm going to go back to the books and re-read them -- much of what I read will have greater impact/meaning now that I've seen things in action.  

Today?  Teaching Gentle Yoga at Yoga For Life; then Temecula's Wisdom Warriors will gather at Living Yoga Center.  For both classes, there may be CHAIRS involved.  Fair warning.  

Hope you all have a great Thursday!

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

I have often been heard to scorn the person who tells me they are 'too busy' when asked to do something important to their journey.  I might have to eat some words here (stale words), since I've been using the exact phrase on many occasions in the past month or two.  Why?  Well, let me tell you:

About a month ago, my Certification with the Anusara School of Hatha Yoga was finalized.  This monumental accomplishment, while tarnished by the antics of JF, has me standing taller and more confidently in my teaching.  I am good at what I do and completing the Certification is living proof!  (just needed to say that . . . )

Since then I've taken on a couple more classes to teach, including an Intro to Yoga.  Teaching 20+ new students how to 'do' yoga is a challenge.  Not that I need to know how to teach them poses, but I also want to instill an enthusiasm -- how do I do that?  I decided that one of the things I valued most in my early years was feeling noticed.  With that in mind, I did a number of things differently from prior Intros, which has certainly kept me 'busy'.  Not sure what I will do for the final class, but I'm thinking about it.  I could easily say 'busy' after this.

Then, there are my 'regular' classes - which are up to 8 each week.  I never thought I'd teach that much, but it's now or never, I'm thinking.  And, at the ripe age of 63, I need to get busy and cram a lot of teaching and learning into the next years.  So 'busy' again.

My personal practice has gone up and down; fortunately, I have Wisdom Warriors to keep me motivated and stimulated.  I missed two weeks (how can one miss 4 hours of practice with Desiree Riumbaugh - DUMB!).  Nevertheless, the damage was done.  I returned yesterday, wondering how I would do; could I keep up?  I did pretty well.  I'm not saying everyone should take 2 weeks off from their practice with Desiree, but sometimes a few days away gives us an unexpected boost when we return.

What did we do?  Rather, what didn't we do?  Standing poses, backbends, balance, upside down, plus an experiment or two -- all part of 2 hours spent with Wisdom Warriors.  Our motto -- keep moving while you keep your ribs contained, your belly engaged, your tailbone moving towards your heels, and your gaze lifted -- something like that.  (actually, I just made that up -- early morning mind unravelings).

On the home front, we just returned from our cabin in Idaho.  Had planned this 4-day trip for a long time, but didn't realize that it would coincide with the replacement of our roof.  Poor dogs, had to stay here with a house sitter, who endured the pounding and stomping on the roof for those days.  We are back, roof is almost done (as with many house projects, it took longer and more $$$$$$$ than expected, but what can you say about that).  Life might be back to normal at the Fallbrook house soon.

And, Idaho -- wonderful 4 days spent in front of the wood stove reading.  I even cooked every night we were there (a remarkable accomplishment).  Nice to get away, nice to be home.

Today, up to Temecula to teach -- Gentle at Yoga for Life; Temecula Wisdom Warriors at Living Yoga Center.

Hope you have a great Thursday!