spacekadet blog

A little background: I discovered yoga last year in Austin at my gym’s “hatha fusion” yoga class. For one hour, three mornings per week, I stretched, balanced, occasionally fell over, relaxed, lengthened my spine, twisted my body, breathed, and cleared my head of all the nasties.

My move to London put a stop to these regenerative mornings, so as soon as I got a job, I began beginner’s Ashtanga at Yoga Home, taught by an insanely bendy person named Alex Thomas. This being London, yoga classes are way too expensive to attend more than once a week. But I have a great deal to learn, and a semi-regular dose of professional instruction is critical to my progress and motivation.

My strategy is to attend a yoga class once per week, and then practice the routine on my own in the flat before I go to work in the mornings.

Back to the present: Today was Day 1 of Level 2 “Ashtanga Style” yoga at the Bishopsgate Institute. The class meets for 50-minutes, once per week, for 12 weeks, and costs £69.

I arrived to class early and had a chance to talk to the instructor, Marina, who informed me that “Ashtanga Style” means we will use Ashtanga postures but will not follow the strict order of the Primary Series.

Of the twelve students, I am one of only two new students. I’m happy to hear people like the class enough to keep going back, but a bit intimidated by being the lone stranger in a group of friends. This feeling is silly, of course, because social pressure simply doesn’t exist in a yoga class if the students are serious about their practice.

In my previous Ashtanga course, we jumped right into the sun salutes and the primary series. In Marina’s class, we first warm up on the mat. This suits my creaky joins very well, and made the subsequent Surya Namaskura A a much more fluid and comfortable exercise. Also, the sound of other students’ breathing helps me concentrate on my own breath.

We spent most of the class in introductions and paperwork, so the practice itself was short. But I felt invigorated afterwards. Marina assures me that we’ll “kick it up” next class. I look forward to it.

Key take-aways for my home practice:

• Take some time on the mat before I start my practice to relax and prepare myself for the task at hand; there’s no rush
• Pay more attention to my breathing; perhaps I can use that pre-practice mat time to really “connect with the breath”, as they say
• Warm up on the yoga mat: lay on the mat, hug the knees and rock back and forth; practice the “cat pose”.
• Take Savasana more seriously; again, there’s no rush
• Remember: it’s better to perform 5 minutes of quality, intentional yoga than 60 minutes of semi-distracted scattered yoga. There’s no rush! Pay attention to the moment; focus on the task at hand.

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.
– Buddha