Thursday, March 28, 2013

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!

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