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yoga # 73.5
Dec. 31st, 2009 11:34 amI just got back from a 75-minute flow class at StaSu. Today's class was taught by Susan (who puts the "Su" in "StaSu"). I kind of felt like I spent most of the class critiquing her teaching? Like in Stacey's class, there were things she just didn't explain well. I've been doing yoga a while and I'm pretty adaptable, but sometimes I just didn't get what she was asking for.
Two examples: while we're in a high lunge, fingertips on the floor, Susan said, "Press your palms". I flattened my hands and pressed my palms against the floor. She said it again, and I'm like, yep, pressing here! Then she says "Press your palms together." She was actually asking us to press hands together at heart's center and rise up to standing. That's pretty different from what I thought she was going for, but I don't think I was being exceptionally dense in the way I misunderstood. There were other things, too, where she even came over to adjust me because I wasn't getting it. The other example: when we're in high plank, she would often say, "Step back into downward dog". But in high plank, there's no stepping involved to get to downward dog. You just push back or press back. This is admittedly minor, but it just feels imprecise to me.
I also didn't really get the structure of the class. There were some poses that we did twice that aren't typically done twice--it felt like she was padding to try to get the full 75 minutes. It also kind of felt like the transitions between poses were the most awkward transitions she could devise. I don't think I've ever gone into an eagle pose (which is a balance on one foot) from a wide-legged stance. It didn't feel natural. An airplane or half-moon balance, yes, because you're lifting the back foot, so it makes sense to get there from a wide-legged stance, but for eagle it was kind of odd. There were a few other things like that too.
When I compare this class to Lisie's class at Enso last week, Lisie's class definitely comes out on top: Lisie explained things in detail, was easy to understand, and the class was structured so that every pose built on the pose before.
I don't want it to sound like I didn't enjoy the class today, because I did. It was a great workout and I got all sweaty and, well, yoga is still yoga, and yoga is good (it's like pizza that way). But if I'm paying to attend a class, I don't want to be internally critiquing the teacher's methods during the class. I want it to make sense such that I don't even pay attention to it, or even to be so good that I can learn from it--with Lisie, I felt like I was learning so much just being in the room with her teaching technique. So, I think my conclusion is that I need to go back to Enso for a few more classes and try out the other teachers there before I go back to StaSu again.
Two examples: while we're in a high lunge, fingertips on the floor, Susan said, "Press your palms". I flattened my hands and pressed my palms against the floor. She said it again, and I'm like, yep, pressing here! Then she says "Press your palms together." She was actually asking us to press hands together at heart's center and rise up to standing. That's pretty different from what I thought she was going for, but I don't think I was being exceptionally dense in the way I misunderstood. There were other things, too, where she even came over to adjust me because I wasn't getting it. The other example: when we're in high plank, she would often say, "Step back into downward dog". But in high plank, there's no stepping involved to get to downward dog. You just push back or press back. This is admittedly minor, but it just feels imprecise to me.
I also didn't really get the structure of the class. There were some poses that we did twice that aren't typically done twice--it felt like she was padding to try to get the full 75 minutes. It also kind of felt like the transitions between poses were the most awkward transitions she could devise. I don't think I've ever gone into an eagle pose (which is a balance on one foot) from a wide-legged stance. It didn't feel natural. An airplane or half-moon balance, yes, because you're lifting the back foot, so it makes sense to get there from a wide-legged stance, but for eagle it was kind of odd. There were a few other things like that too.
When I compare this class to Lisie's class at Enso last week, Lisie's class definitely comes out on top: Lisie explained things in detail, was easy to understand, and the class was structured so that every pose built on the pose before.
I don't want it to sound like I didn't enjoy the class today, because I did. It was a great workout and I got all sweaty and, well, yoga is still yoga, and yoga is good (it's like pizza that way). But if I'm paying to attend a class, I don't want to be internally critiquing the teacher's methods during the class. I want it to make sense such that I don't even pay attention to it, or even to be so good that I can learn from it--with Lisie, I felt like I was learning so much just being in the room with her teaching technique. So, I think my conclusion is that I need to go back to Enso for a few more classes and try out the other teachers there before I go back to StaSu again.
