Week 27 - Ariana

I auditioned to teach yoga at a gym yesterday. There were about 25 of us. First of all, it feels counter intuitive to be auditioning to teach yoga but I digress. I know gym yoga is different from yoga studio yoga but it was a jarring experience. Each of had 3 minutes to teach anything we wanted but the class had to flow from one person to the next so it resembled a real class sequence. That is what was supposed to happen but it did not exactly go that way. The first person started right off with a vinyasa sequence. The class stayed at an intense level for most of the 2 hours and 40 minutes. The class was up and down and all over the place. No warm up. No Savasana. I tried to balance out this intensity when it was my turn but I don't know if that is what the "judges" were looking for. In my humble opinion, on a macro level the sequence made no sense.

My nervous system was shot afterwards and I was exhausted. Not how I like to feel at the end of a yoga class. By the time I got home I was catatonic. It's amazing how many different expressions of yoga there are and how many of them scare me.

So my practice today was dedicated to restore and activate my parasympathetic nervous system. ahhhh. There was no pushing it today. I played Deva Premal's Moola Mantra. ahhhh. I found myself singing along at times even while in headstand (not a good idea I learned).

I did half lotus again for the Urdvha Padmasana inversions. No Pindasana in Headstand because I don't feel ready for it. But I enjoyed my modified Half Lotus Pindasana while in Shoulderstand. I am a little sore in my upper back. I am not sure if it is residual from yesterday (from the Shoulderstand without any blankets)  but I am keeping an internal eye on it. I felt it while in Shoulderstand. Very odd. I am taking it very slowly when I feel something there.

No full Lotus. Half Lotus on each side felt right today. I cannot lift up in Tolasana while in Half Lotus. I backed off on most of the binds.

I gave myself an extra long Savasana to make up for yesterday. Ujjayi Pranayama with the inhalation retention was soothing.  I feel more restored but I am not loving this sequence. All the back-bending and the Garudasana at the end still confuses me.