but all i ever need is everything

yoga training #8

for our eighth training session, we focused almost completely on alignment. my teacher wanted to make sure that we were holding our poses correctly before we began to instruct others, which makes total sense... so i was all pumped and ready to get my pose on, until i realized that "checking our alignment" was just sneaky yogi-code for making us HOLD EACH POSE FOR A RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF TIME while my teacher looked at every toe, finger and tiny little muscle to make sure that it was doing what it was supposed to.

boy, did that burn (but in a good way, of course!)

the best part is, i actually learned that i was over-working some of the simpler poses that we take for granted, like downward dog and warrior one. in dd, i was pushing away from the floor so hard that i was over-extending my shoulders and that was causing all sorts of problems. my teacher suggested that i pull my shoulders back in, which improved my balance and made my heels reach the ground with ease.

and when it came to w1, i discovered that i had basically just gotten lazy, which i guess is pretty easy to do with this pose. to make sure your warrior one is the best it can be, make sure your back leg is straight, and that you are tucking your butt under and pulling your stomach in with little to no arch in your back. i had been treating it similarly to crescent moon, which is hard on the legs but easy sleezy on the torso. well, no more!

so now we are preparing to teach our very first class, which we've decided will be an express class- a quick 15 minutes is just enough time to squeeze everything in without feeling overwhelmed. i think this will be good for me to start out with, because i tend to move pretty quickly through my at-home routines anyway. and, just in case i get stuck, i have soooo many yoga apps on my new iphone!!  honestly, i hadn't even considered purchasing an iphone until my teacher told me there were all of these incredible yoga apps- is that weird? or awesome. i pick awesome. im so pumped to try them all! let me know if you guys have any suggestions...

AND, remind me to tell you about my super awesome, yoga-tastic, summer plans which involve one of the best states in the US, good music, peace, love and lots of posing!!!

xo