got ben folds on my radio

yoga training #7

my seventh training took place during one of our new sunday morning classes, where i quietly observed/sort of participated in/took notes during/stared creepily at other people in downward dog. i know it sounds strange and if i were a participant in that class, i would have undoubtedly been slightly uncomfortable, but my teacher assured everyone that i was 1.) not creepy, and 2.) a yogi in training.

le sigh

i just love the way that sounds- "yogi in training". but i digress...

ok, so after class ended, i realized the majority of my notes were based on the verbal cues that my teacher was using for different poses. she has this really wonderful way of simplifying positions and helping you adjust your body without sounding critical or judgy (yea, i said it. judgy.). for example, when we are doing *mandalas (not to be confused with gondolas) she simply says, "now, bring your right arm past the naval as you turn to face the back of the room, in warrior 1." swoon.

after reviewing our notes, we moved on to.....drum roll.... teaching the teacher! i went through a quick 15 minute warm-up that i had created, complete with lunges and down dogs and cobras, oh my! it was just the basics, but i'm still getting nervous instructing others soooooo, i had this amazing idea that was, of course, inspired by beyonce. i've decided to create an alter-ego, sort of the yoga equivelant to beyonce's 'sasha fierce'. i even tried a few different accents, because, who knows? maybe my alter-ego is a 40 year-old french canadian woman who was born in ireland but raised in jamaica and occasionally roots for the red socks...? (unfortunately, that's what all of my accents sound like, despite my best efforts.) the only problem is, i can't think of a good name for my alter ego so i'm asking for suggestions... any ideas?

post warm-up, we went over the playlist i had created for my future classes. my teacher suggested that we veer away from any emotional songs, as participants can sometimes be vulnerable and affected by what they are listening to during a yoga session. so, my obvious choice of music included songs by band of horses, radiohead, and lil weezy (duh). i've added a couple of songs off my 'yoga mixtape' to my blog playlist, for your listening pleasure...i hope you enjoy!



*mandala is a sanskrit word that means circle. it also represents a movement, in which you start facing the front of the room, and transition to another pose facing the back of the room...