Monday, February 28, 2011

Follow The Yogi

Today was my first Follow The Yogi class over at CFY. During the Teacher Training interview, Jonny (Kest, the owner of Center For Yoga) had mentioned it was probably a good class to try out. However, it is at 6am, which has always made it impossible to get to seeing as my bf works nights and his 4 yr old's daycare doesn't open until 7am. That means I am playing babysitter while the class is going on.

As "luck" (quoted because I don't really believe in luck) would have it, my boyfriend finally moved to new job on a day shift the same week I start Teacher Training - meaning I can now fit this 6am practice into my daily routine.

I pretty much rolled out of bed and into my car, a bit nervous about this class I knew nothing about. I arrived at 5:58, and class had already begun! That added to my nervousness, since I had to walk into a class already in progress. I snuck in feeling a bit out of place and laid down my mat. 

The thing about this class, is you are basically following along to Jonny's personal morning practice. He calls out the asana's in Sanskrit but there is no more explanation and the room is pretty dark. Therefore, I spent most of my time squinting through the darkness to the people around me to see what we were doing next. What subtle change happened between Letter B and Letter C? Did she just point instead of flex? Because of my nervousness, it wasn't a great class for me. I couldn't actually let go into any of the poses because I was worried that I was doing the wrong thing. And it seemed like just when I would get comfortable doing something he would call out the next pose. 

The more unfamiliar names he called, the bigger the feeling of dread. What had I gotten myself into? Was I supposed to know all of these poses in Sanskrit before starting Teacher Training - everyone else in the room seemed to know them! Would 3 months be enough time to learn all of this stuff? Aaahh!

Then I pictured myself the first time I took a Hot Vinyasa class. It was a super-long flow that the teacher left us with after only running through it twice. I remember being lost and worrying so much about what came next that I didn't get anything out of the class except a lot of stress. But I went back, and the stress was maybe a tiny bit better the next time. And the next. And the next. Until it got to the point I look forward to long flows now more than anything, because it is how I can reach the deepest inside - not having to follow an instructor but instead move in my own time and make the practice my own.

In the spirit of learning, I will definitely be back to a Follow The Yogi class. I am going to attempt to make it a morning ritual in hopes I can get more and more out of it, just like my beloved Hot Vinyasas. And if I don't...well, I can always pop into one of Raina's classes to get my fix :)




1 comment:

  1. Jenn, I felt the same way today after taking Jonny's Hot Vinyasa class in W. Bloomfield. "What have I gotten myself into?" I have not been practicing a super long time... but I told my husband that the things that I usually ask the above question about are the best things I have ever done. Honor your courageous heart! I look forward to meeting you this week.
    ~Amy

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