Day 3 - the day I learned a great teaching point for shoulder stand

Hello again!  Day three, still at it.  31 Day Challenge is well underway.  Well, underway.

Because I'm teaching back to back classes tonight at Haute (5:30pm Hot 60B followed by 7pm Restorative), I had to make sure I got my class in this morning.  Back to the Carlsbad studio for Lauren's Wake Up Yoga again!  Just as before, I totally enjoyed it.  I'm trying to be very cautious of my tush, so I made a lot of adjustments along the way.  Flat out skipped Prasarita Padotanasana, which is an intense wide-legged forward fold stretch -- which should feel great, but given the hammy/boot issue causes a bit too much strain at the moment.

But the point I'd like to mention on today's class was the great teaching/asana point I heard Lauren say when the class was up in sarvangasana/shoulder stand.  The goal of this pose is to have this long line of energy, all the way from your shoulders and the backs of your triceps, which are helping to create the 'lift', all the way up through your feet.  Ankles should be stacked directly over your knees.  Knees stacked over hips.  Hips over shoulders.  One nice tall vertical line.  However, a lot of people have a tendency to extend their toes (and, therefore, their legs and hips) further towards the back of the room.  Sort of placing them halfway between shoulder stand and plow/halasana.  Lauren had a great way of guiding people back into alignment.  While I usually say something along the lines of "stack the ankles over knees, knees over hips, hips over shoulders," Lauren offered this:

If you can see your toes directly over your face or behind your head, move them closer to the mirror.  

Well that's easy enough!  GREAT instruction, because that puts the focus more on analyzing the pose through the eyes of the person doing the pose.  I can say, "stack the ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, etc," and the yogi may very well think, "Yep!  Nailing it!"  But body awareness, knowing where your body is in space, is often one of the hardest things to master in yoga. Lauren's instruction puts it into the perspective of what the yogi actually sees in front of them.  If you can check your pedicure, you're not in alignment.  Send those calves and toes back towards the front of the room.

I love that about taking classes.  As I said before, every class gives you a new way to phrase something, a new way to link a few poses, or a new point of view.  Thanks, Lauren, for giving me mine today!

Cheers.

Day 3

Classes completed: 1

Wake Up Yoga - 7am - Lauren Huber

Progress Towards Goal: 4/31