Yoga with Dede of Imagine, a Yoga Studio

I am continuing to take advantage of my new student pass at Imagine, a Yoga Studio. Today's class was another 60 minute, 12pm class, this time with Dede Fuentes, a regular instructor at the studio.

A side note from my last post about Imagine-- I said the class was 'moderately' challenging. Well my hamstrings felt VERY challenged for the following 2 days! Guess that's what happens when you're off the wagon for too long...a class that may not seem challenging actually is if you aren't practicing regularly.

The class: (60 minutes)

There are few more people in this class than last time, maybe 8 of us. Dede is a pleasant instructor, young and provided plenty of excellent modifications to further challenge the poses. She seemed to make a concentrated effort to give the entire room equal time, walking back and forth across the floor and instructing from various points throughout the room. In a studio like Imagine's, this is really important, since it is much longer than it is wide and makes it difficult to see the instructor. That can be frustrating if it's a pose you're unfamiliar with!

The music had a little Christmas thrown in early on, but switched to lyrical contemporary singer/songwriter type tunes as we progressed. I got to thinking about how a yoga instructor might develop a playlist for a class, and if it's ideal to make a new or tweaked one for every class, and whether the playlist comes first, or the chosen set of poses come first. I would assume some treat the music as merely background, while others fuse the music with the movement. Something to look into! I like the idea of "choreographing" a class to a playlist. It would also be an ideal way for the instructor to track time. Once you get to a certain song, you know it's time to cool down, that sort of thing.

These classes feel short to me. Maybe it's because I'm used to a 90 minute practice. The 60 minute version is more convenient for the sake of saving time in the day, but it feels incomplete when we don't get to touch on so many common poses.

Crow pose with toes together

This class had a similar feel to the previous one. Perhaps slightly more challenging, with more hip openers and the inclusion of crow and pigeon poses, and the exclusion of plow and shoulder stand. Dede had a way of doing crow which I found very interesting. Normally I align the bend of my elbows with the bend of my knees and balance looking forward with my feet pointed behind me, straight out. Dede had us bring our knees as far up our arms as possible, allowing the toes to come together creating a diamond-like shape. It actually seemed more symmetrical and 'crow-like' in this fashion. I'm not sure if there is a "correct" way to do crow, but this variation seems to be on par.

Another fun, holiday themed variation was "Christmas Tree" pose. Which was really just tree-pose, arms in the air, and allowing yourself to "light up" from within. It is so strange, with tree pose, sometimes I can get my foot right up against my thigh, and other times it slides right down immediately. I think wearing tights today may have contributed to the slipping, but it happens even without tights. The half-lotus allowed a fuller stretch, better balance, and far less slipping. Of course, half lotus is not tree-pose.

Dede did not adjust any of us during final savasana, which is perfectly fine. Many people prefer not to be adjusted. I always find it to be helpful in order to fully extend and relax. This studio does not observe either of these practices, but during savasana I have always found the heated/scented eyebags and the tibetan singing bowl to be wonderful additions. Let me explain why. Many people forget to let go of the tension in their face during savasana, or have a hard time keeping their eyes closed. This added weight, warmth, and pressure forces those muscles to relax and for the yogi to more easily withdraw into themselves and block out any outside disturbances. I like the singing bowl because of the roundness of the tone and its ability to mute outside sound. It gives the yogi a tone to focus on and let external thoughts float away.

Overall, this was a good class. Her style was not radically different from Leona's, so I am interested to see if this is the case with the other teachers. A cohesive style is a worthy goal for a studio, however, I am on the hunt for variation.

PS In reference to the article I posted in my previous blog post about an attempt to copyright yoga poses- it turns out the person suing for copyright is Bikram Choudhury, the creator of Bikram Yoga. There just so happens to be a Bikram Yoga studio, licensed by Choudhury, in the River North neighborhood of Chicago, a couple blocks from my work. As it also happens, one of the individuals being sued is Greg Gumucio, former student of Choudhury and founder of Yoga to the People-which as you may recall is the studio that produces the podcasts I use at home! As a final note, I would like to post Yoga to the People's mantra, which I find inspiring and pointed. Take from it what you will.