NO PRESSURE; BUT, WRITE !

My blog postings recently have focused most on the recently-begun Wisdom Warriors, a once-weekly, two-hour practice group of 50+ year old women and men.  As most of you know, the group is coordinated by Desiree Rumbaugh and Geri Portnoy, with one or two others filling in if they are out of town.  Why has my focus been so one-pointed?  Well, with Anusara in turmoil right now (there may be light at the end of the tunnel, so I am still waiting), the Warriors is one very light moment of my week and has re-invigorated my practice and my teaching.  That's worth writing about.

So, to proceed . . .

Six weeks in, and we've practiced with Desiree 4 times; Geri once; and - yesterday - Garry Alessio filled in for the traveling Warrior leaders.  Talk about putting one's feet to the fire! I mentioned pressure in my title, since Desiree has come to enjoy these blog posts; but Garry had to practice with and guide 15 Warrior women through 2 hours of yoga! I guess he wins the 'pressure war'.

Why?  Well, everyone attending is a steady yoga practitioner. We all come from different teaching backgrounds and different teachers. Some of us travel from other locales and studios to do this practice. A practice is an opportunity to do our yoga, ask questions, offer some input, ask for heat/air adjustments, perhaps do our own advanced version of the pose being suggested. It is a different 'animal' that the usual yoga class, where everyone is quiet and trying to do exactly what the instructor offers. (One side effect: we are becoming our own community within a community!)

I hope you get the picture by now -- one guy, standing in front of fifteen 50+ year-old accomplished yogis, offering a practice sequence with immediate feedback (and sound effects) from participants. Don't get me wrong, we weren't rowdy, just vocal.

But, best of all and as we've done each week, we had fun. Garry took us through a well-rounded practice, some moves that I'd not done before, and sequences that were challenging.  And, some of us had a few good laughs at ourselves (me, in particular, when I found myself lying in a heap as I tried to exit one of those unfamiliar moves).

In each of these practices (as in classes), I like to reflect on the things I learned.  Here are a couple:

• Parighasana (gate pose) -- place a block under the hip of the extended leg, place the other leg in virasana, lengthen torso and reach for extended foot with corresponding arm. Now take other arm over your head towards foot.  What's different?  The elevation provided by the block makes the journey to the foot much more enjoyable.  
• Ustrasana (camel pose) -- as we prepared, Garry suggested we press our hands into the back of our thighs (and press back with the thighs). This was interesting, something I'd not done before. What happened? I was able to lift heart, lean back more confidently, and - when reaching for the ankles - it was both hands reaching the heels at the same time. For me, that doesn't happen always. We tried it twice - both times, same result.  

Thank you, Garry, for being our guide.  As I said, it was fun, I learned some new stuff, I refined some other stuff, I enjoyed being with everyone.  

Today?  Well, my Thursday class will benefit from yesterday's exploration of new 'stuff'.  

I hope you all have a great Thursday, as well!