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.

Vinyasa Flow On My Own!

First official yoga-post from CHICAGO! I'm living in the Rogers Park neighborhood, and its very cute, interesting, and diverse.

There is literally a studio down the block from me, how cool is that?? I've also got a LivingSocial deal for a studio downtown for some hot yoga classes, so expect some posts to come from both locations!

For today however, I decided to just flow on my own in my living room facing our beautiful bank of windows while listening to music from "Fitz and the Tantrums".

I want to find a set format for these posts so they're easy to search and find what you're looking for. Not there yet but hopefully something will evolve in the near future!

Overview:
I did a basic vinyasa flow to music, starting from child's pose into downward dog. D-Dog is homebase for my flow. I started slowly, doing some standing stretches and backbends as well as tree pose. I then worked through Warrior 1 & 2, 3-5 breaths for each, and then did a rapid flow 1 breath per move working up a good sweat, moving through the warriors into plank, chaturanga, and into D-dog. Basically a modified sun salutation. I threw in some basic sun salutations as well, as well as chair and thunderbolt poses. One thing I've realized is that I don't know the true name for several poses I do regularly. Such as modifications after I lunge with one arm up one arm down, over the head, stretching backwards, etc. I think side-angle & half-moon pose? I'll have to look it up. I also did some of my favorites such as plow, fish, and shoulder stand. I also worked on my headstand a little bit, which was a bit wobbly today. I finished by doing camel (on your knees, bending backwards and grabbing your ankles, heart center to the ceiling), which is such a wonderful and powerful release, a cycle of different types of crunches in counts of 8, followed by of course, corpse pose and cool down.

All in all, this flow was about 50 minutes long, which is about as long as I like it. 90 minutes sometimes feels like too much, but there is something to be said for pushing yourself beyond what's comfortable.

Sidenote:
I like to include some kind of basic core work in my flow such as intervals of different kinds of crunches or doing the pilates 100. Something all my yoga (and dance) teachers have stressed is a strong core, and I have to agree. While doing the yoga work certainly helps strengthen the core, I find it necessary to supplement in some way.

Right now, I'm feeling those creaky bones and unworked muscles burning after that work out. I think I pushed myself in a good direction. Something really different I tried was pretending I was teaching the class and seeing how it affected me and how confident I felt about it. It went pretty well! I definitely need to learn the correct names of the poses better, but I think I have a good 'teaching voice' and a calming but supportive presence. I wonder how much teachers plan their classes and how much is just a general outline or if they make it up on the spot? Something to find out. I feel good about continuing on the path of certification though!

Music:
I LOVE doing yoga to music! You have to make sure the music you choose isn't distracting, and it doesn't have to be tibetan monk singing or anything. Just something with enough energy to drive but not so much craziness to clash. Create your own mix if you want! The vibe from "Fitz and the Tantrums" was kind of perfect. It's funk and soul, with enough energy to really drive but not to distraction, and it flows together well just like the practice. I think music should always be in the studios too. Most do some kind of typical "yoga" music, tibetan monks or flutes or something, but popular music certainly works too. If you want to take out the "uber-hippie" element that drives some away, I think contemporary or at least not "traditional" music, is the way to go. I'm sure there are some very traditional yogis out there who might object to this....but I've never really been one to stick to tradition. Update tradition!

Trying to get back on the wagon with yoga, hopefully lots more posts to come! Keeping a regular practice really is important, and I'm not very good about it. Practicing regularly really is the only way to master your balance and go deeper into the poses, working towards those really challenging ones.