Come sit by me
Sometimes it seems to me as if I am the only Ashtanga blogger out there who doesn't have a favorite place to set my mat in the practice room. I practice wherever there's a spot. And I could care less if it's on the right side or the left, near the altar or in the rear. I pretty much don't much care who practices next to me either, although lately I have noticed that it's kind of fun to practice within eyeshot of one particular student because when I do, we usually share a smirk or giggle at some point, which is somehow kind of nice during a two hour practice. Plus, she and I almost always start at around the same time, and even if we don't, I usually catch up to her during the standing series, such that we're practicing pretty much the same poses at the same time (until she splits into Second sometime after Navasana - it seems to be different every time). She has a lovely practice and she has given me some really wonderful pointers on opening the armpits (yes, Carl, the ARMPITS).
Oh, and during Led Primary Friday practice, I like to be as close as possible to the front and center because I've found that a front and center spot increases the odds of my getting an assist in Supta Kurmasana. Those assists really mean the world to me at this point because the less I "do" in Primary poses, the better my backbends feel.
On a side note, I often wonder, as a teacher and as a student, who really SHOULD get the Supta Kurmasana assist in a led class...the student who is most likely to get into the full version of the pose WITH the assist? Or the student who has no shot of getting bound but who might get a little further with an assist? A student like me, who can get into Supta K without an assist probably shouldn't be getting the assist, truth be told, at least in my opinion. When I was teaching led classes at Shala X, for example, if the lithe and willowy Miss T was in the room, I knew that I would not have to assist her in Supta K and that I could focus my attentions on someone who needed the help more.
But back to the topic at hand, other than my preference for a front and center spot in Led and my enjoying being near Miss M during Mysore practice, I don't really care who I practice near, or where I practice. I wonder how and why the attachment to certain places in the room sets in.
Lord, my life must be boring today for me to be writing such drivel.
YC
7 comments:
I don't care either...as long as I'm on the side with my back to the mirror and I'm not over a creaky floorboard and I'm not near the door and I can line my mat up with the lines...
Oh, I guess I do care.
You need to speed up your practice. 2 hours for what you are doing is way too slow; what will you do when you are practicing up to, say, Pincha Mayurasana if you haven't been split?
Oh, and for the mat preference (I will gloss over the implied judgement of this "attachment" and not get started on your Pasasana-in-the-bathtub attachment :-P), something that is worth considering is that practicing daily at the same time on the same spot helps your teacher inmensely, because they "plan" their adjustments, for example Hamish knows roughly when I'll be getting to Dwi Pada and almost always he is there ready to help. When someone has about 100 regular students, this must certainly be a little helpful in terms of remembering all of their practices/quirks/etc!
sk adjustment in led class?
no one. time to fend for yourself.
that's what mysore is for.
if you teach daily mysore (i do), a class of not adjusting is nice.
besides, too many students don't ever try to do it without help. trying is far more important than getting into the full posture.
mat spot? kind of dumb. i got screamed at the ayri cause i put my mat in a certified teacher's spot (i had no idea she was SO important) and she made me move my mat. nice.
Yeah, I was wondering why you're the only yoga blogger that hasn't published details of preferred mat locations, complete with floor diagrams. All the rest have done that!
And if you insist on "opening" the armpits, just make sure you wax or shave or something.
Of course, Carl, of course.
cody, come on. I've got some good posts over on MY BLOG--what the hell are you doing over here?
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