Finally class 9! Finally, because I skipped three days - THREE days! It felt like forever. Partly had to do with unexpected transportation problems, partly just timing I think. The reasons escape me now. But no matter, as I finally got myself to class. Something to be said for being prepared, like bag packed, clean mat rolled up and ready, water bottle filled and all things waiting patiently by the door to grab on the way out.
THE SET UP
So I made it to the 10am class, little Teacher A was teaching, always such an energetic class. Though there were a few confusing moments when she was instructing so fast there was no real clue to the Go cues, and the class was a little bit off, not in sync, and she actually scolded us for that! When is it appropriate to give advice to a teacher, if only to make the class a little bit better? Is that allowed? Yes, Teacher A, I was going after than before your cue because you were talking so fast. I would almost be offended if I were more in that state of mind, because she was also changing the dialogue. And she was emphasizing that we needed to just listen to her words. I'm all for teachers personalizing the class, but you have to respect the vet students because maybe they are focused on other aspects of their practice, going deeper or focusing on something other than acting like Pavlovian dogs following your power trip instructions.
Anyway, so the class was a spacious 10am crowd, and I was surprised at the number of ... How shall I say, the age demographic. Lots of 50-60+., an unusual amount, at least compared to what I observed before. In fact, it's more than I've ever seen in any Bikram class I've taken. Interesting. There was also this new student there to my left, about my age, a fidgety little thing. It was odd, because she seemed to know the poses, but could not for the life of her stand still. I thought maybe she was... Off in some way. Like she could not stand still, AT ALL! Not even during the poses, not between the poses. And when I say "fidget" I am being generous. She was actually moving a lot, almost dancing around, dropping her arms constantly. Sometimes she would just stand there, hip cocked with an attitude, not focused. She kind of made it her own class. I did not let it distract me too much, other than just trying to figure out what her deal was.
When did I get so calm?
THE PRACTICE
So what a good class I had, despite those observations above. After three days off I was not sure what to expect, but it was great because my usual nemesis poses transformed into moments of progress! For example:
The Standing Head to Knee - I actually kicked out, and stayed there, for longer than I ever have! On both sides! I didn't even try to bring my head down to my knee, I was just so happy to be standing there, holding my leg out like an upside down L, it was great! Now next step is to gain confidence in standing there, and move onto the next part. Heh. I mean, this is great, really great. I am so proud of myself!
Then, the Standing Bow pose - again, I stayed up for way longer than usual, and was actually kicking my foot up over my head, at least in the mirror. And this was on both sides, too! What helped this time was Teacher A's emphasis on "charging the body forward" - which is not a new instruction, and now that I think about it, it is said in every class I've ever taken, but this time it sunk in, and it really helped. Instead of just stretching my fingers forward it occurred to me to stretch my whole torso forward, to actually shift my weight forward. And after that, it made sense to kick hard backwards, and up I stayed. Crazy, right, who knew? Wow.
The Locust pose is getting better, in tiny increments. I now know to automatically shift my weight onto my forearms, so my hipbone area is ON my arm, pressed down. And that is how one lifts one's leg. So eventually I will strengthen that muscle memory to get it when both legs come off the ground together. I also found that because my feet are crappy and I have bunion deformities, that it was hard to keep my feet together side by side because that left a gap. But if I just shift them a little off, one on top of the other, and the rest of feet, heels, knees and legs are touching and pressed hard together, it works better and I have more power.
The most exciting pose today, though, was Toe Stand. Because while I have no problem getting down into starting Toe Stand, I always fall over before the final position. And that is what happens if I listen to the instructions. But rather than walking my hand backwards to the sides and such, I just bring my hands up, and today, miracles of miracles, I was up balancing for a LONG time, like 10 seconds at least, until Teacher A saw me and instructed me (specifically, me, by name) to try to raise myself up one inch higher, then I fell over finally, but laughing. Again, just so proud of myself. Yay!
THE AFTERMATH
So for me it was a good, good class, very progressive, the kind of class one needs to make one excited to go back the next day and do it again. It was not the perfect class, for I ended up sitting out during a triangle pose, just too dizzy and tired. I was more hot than humid in the class today, and I was parched.
On the physical side of things, I no longer look so much like a beached whale. My waist is returning (nice to see you again!). I feel stronger, tighter. I have not stepped on a scale in the past week, but my clothes, well they're not much looser than before. In fact I would say they've been a tad tighter than usual. I find that odd since each class burns about 1,000 calories ( estimates between 850-1300, so we'll just average it to 1000), and my eating habits are better than before. Hope it's just water weight, or the muscle building up - heh.
Another tip I learned from Teacher A today - she said the hard direct gaze is Giving of energy, while the soft gaze (like the one we do in savasana, on the floor) is one of Receiving energy. Claimed it was a qi gong thing, new to me but it sounds interesting, might try that one on for size in my Life in General.
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