I'm not gonna blog much about my practice today. I just felt like venting a bit about the classes I teach. I'm feeling a little troubled..not so much about the teaching itself, but my attachment to what my students think of my classes.
I've put quite a bit of effort into sequencing my classes, and I practice my own sequences before a class. Recently, the ashtanga class I teach has been going well..people like it and tell me they do. I've also gone back to a more traditional format, vinyasas between poses (not sides yet because I think most people are still not able to handle it), doing most of the sequence in order and modifying what I think people need to modify. Its been great and attendance is rising.
However my hatha class feels really uninspired..well today at least. I went to class prepared to teach some stuff that I thought people would like to do, and turns out most of my regular crowd wasn't there and lots of beginners. So I had to change the sequence on the fly..which I'm not particularly good at..I don't know if it was my personal projections, but I thought it went pretty flat..and I find myself bothered about this. In fact it bothers me when my regular crowd don't come to class. It feels like they are bored or something with class..and I do take this personally.
I know this has nothing to do with my students and everything to do with my need to have people like my class. Maybe I'm PMSing ..thats why I'm compelled to whinge and whine about it here..hopefully I'm gonna get out of this rut..and also I think I'll prepare a few sequences in mind before class instead..so that if I need to change it, I can do it on the fly. Hope that will help..
About practice. Well bhujapidasana was good yesterday.. I swept the feet through and landed the head with some semblance of control on the floor (not near hovering with the chin yet) and almost felt like I could get up! But well.I didn't quite get up..but I can almost feel it already! Hope it will happen in the next few practices.
Also I've been pulling the leg up to my forehead before every pose as I read somewhere it helps to loosen up my hips for supta kurmasana..I also read what Erich Schiffmann said on his message board about getting the leg behind the head:
"Here are a few to get started with. 1) Get good at Paschimottanasana, seated forward fold. Also 2) Baddha Konasana (cobblers pose), but do it with your feet away from you so your legs form a square or diamond shape, rather than pulling your feet in tight, and rest your face on/toward your feet, then on the floor on your side of the heels. Also 3) spend lots of time lying forward in the one-legged Pigeon Pose. Longer duration, lower intensity. Stay in these poses longer than normal, at an easy-ish place in the pose. Those will get you going. "
I'm banking on this for my supta kurmasana...
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2 comments:
sequencing is hard. I admire people who can do it at all. If i am doing a non-ashtanga class, I find myself using a lot of the ashtanga elements. Thanks for the hip loosening stuff from Erich Schiffman. I already am doing the legs behind the head stuff, but I can't get myself into dwi pada without assistance, STILL. I will try Erich's baddha konasana suggestion--i usually do it really tight.
Hi Laksmi,
you're very welcome! So how did you work on supta K? Did it take you long to do it?
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