THERE ARE PEOPLE OUT THERE . . .

I knew there were a few, but this morning a comment appeared for my last post. This comment is from a person NEW to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you. My response to the comment is posted as a comment to that blog entry. (FYI, I've also sent a note to Anusara about the website listing, since the descriptioon of the Santa Fe training is vague.)

So, redemption -- I'm not just sitting here writing notes to myself (tho I've learned a lot over the last six months doing just that).

My husband and I went to see "Julie, Julia" a couple weeks ago (one of those free premiers, if you're wondering why -- since it doesn't come out til August 7). Not to give anything away, but Julie is blogging about her experience cooking Julia Child's recipes. Her great excitement in the beginning of the movie comes from discovering that people really are reading her entries.

I feel similarly each time someone comments.

So, class yesterday went well. I subbed a class that is not an Anusara® class, but their regular instructor does a lot of work with alignment. So, they were familiar with the Principles. It makes teaching go much smoother when I can use some of the terms I use in my own classes and the students get it.

During the class, I decided to do something that is a first for me. Even tho the group was small, I had a student demo Uttanasana. Very flexible person, who was able to place her hands flat on the floor as she folded easily into the pose. Why is this even remarkable? Because, for the first time, I called everyone over, had them stand close, and asked the student to do a contrast demo. Flat hands, straight arms vs. 10 fingers, elbows bent towards side edges of mat (offering more access to shoulder blades).

Students' Response: Flat hands: good; Fingertips & elbows bent: oohs, aahs, they saw a deeper and stronger Uttanasana with more shri throughout the pose. Standing close gave them a bird's eye view of the shoulder blades in action during Uttanasana.

I wonder why I've never done that type of demo before? Of course, I was nervous. I do, upon reflection, have to thank Christina for giving me courage. During the course of our workshop last weekend, she gave us no choice -- we were asked, invited, then strongly encouraged to gather close to observe demos throughout the weekend.

During my student's demo yesterday, by gathering close everyone got to see the impact of bent elbows on the shoulder blades and the deepening of the fold, plus a good view of a very beautiful Uttanasana.

Why waste our energy on 'gorilla uttanasana's', as I call them -- dangling, limp arms with no energetic connection to the ground. Uttanasana deserves better. That's probably another blog topic.

Have a great day,