Obviously, the ideal would be for me to swing my leg all the way up between my hands in one graceful, flexible movement. But remember that this 55 year old is trying to erase decades of sitting at a desk.
I now move one leg up as far as I can reach (I am getting closer to my target, especially after warming up a while). Then, supporting my weight on the opposite arm and leg, I scoot my advanced leg forward with the free hand. It's mainly a question of a little more strength and balance. It's faster than what I had been doing and fits into the flow better.
When I'm in the middle of a vinyasa at class, I don't have the time to think through the best way to modify the pose or movement. I just want to keep pace with the class. During home practice, however, I can pause (a button on my DVD player) to step through the movement and find an easier way.
What's the most striking feature? Space, space and space. I am used to taking yoga classes in DC where most studios are converted narrow townhouses. The owners are in a quandary -- giving studios the priority for space means that clothes changing, waiting and customer service areas are tight, even claustrophobic. The transition between classes in the busy evening time lots can seem like a Chinese fire drill. At TranquilSpace, the mats are separated by 9 inches, at most. At Flow Yoga, it's better but the non-studio space is congested. When a yoga center is successful, it means it gets more crowded and frustrating.
At Thrive Yoga, the two practice rooms are huge, with high ceilings and natural light. There are spacious dressing rooms for men and women, and the hallway is wide, airy and adequate for holding crowds during class transition. There's lots of space at the entrance, where students sign in and pay, and also a commercial area.
I took a Vinyasa class from Susan, 90 minutes. There were about 15 people in the session, and we have plenty of space to maneuver. She kept us moving through the poses at a good pace. I worked up a sweat. She did a nice job of managing the disparate skills levels among the participants, showing modifications and adjustments. I went into the class feeling tired and aching because of my home practice and gym work yesterday. I came out feeling energized.
Kim and Susan started up Thrive Yoga because they could not find a good place to practice in this neck of Montgomery County. They will have a challenge of ramping up business to be able to pay for the space and let's hope that success does not spoil the great environment.
When I finished by yoga sessions, I went by Bally Fitness where there's a free yoga session on Sunday morning. I usually took it with my wife. The practice floor was the fullest I have ever seen it, shoulder to shoulder, and there were even people spilling out onto the weight lifting area. I said to myself, "After Thrive, how am I going to go back to this."
My yoga home practices has tended to be static, with stretches held a long time and poses for strengthening my lower back. I do put in 20 minutes on pranayama and 20-40 minutes of meditation. I really haven't pushed myself very hard. I was exploring poses, matching my breath and just trying to be comfortable in my body. I've started to feel that I was stuck in a rut and I needed to pick up my physical stamina and core strength. My body has definitely lagged behind my mind and spirit in picking up yoga. And I am only going to improve steadily if I practice everyday. For the past 10 days, I've been doing the Pure Sweat routine or my classes. I can't say that I kept up through the whole routine (What are pause buttons for?), but I have made a commitment to a more energetic and complete practice.
I picked Rainbeau Mars because I was going through the options on MagRack's Yoga Retreat and liked her video the best out of nine videos online in February. And yes, she's nice to look at, too. Only a few videos ever inspire me to actually do the yoga.
Watch out who you're talking about online: A funny thing happened over at a Yoga.com fourm -- the participants were cheerfully commenting about R. Mars and her weird name and other comments that boarded on being rude when Rainbeau herself dropped in on the discussion, clarified the misunderstandings and generally carried it off very well. She scored some points with me.
I also got flagged by Rachel, alias YogaRachel, who is going to Thrive for her regular injection of vinyasa. She liked this blog and decided to start her own, Mindfulness / YogaRachel. She also encouraged me to drop by Thrive. I probably will have to -- maybe, this weel.
This is certainly a great time to step up my meditation practice -- my mind is already slowed down. MY meditation teacher always instructed us to think of nothing. I'm so there.
The next morning, my knee was a bit stiff, but no real serious pain. I was not even limping. Most of the stiffness disappeared with the six-block walk from the Metro station to my job. I checked in with the office doctor, and he could not find any damage, aside from some pain when pulled in a peculiar way. It was a strained muscle or ligament behind the knee, probably the biceps femoris (one of the hamstring muscles). He did not prescribe any treatement, other than care about how much pressure I put on the knee. I was relieved.
Curiously, the damaged tissue is the same one, I think, that gets injured when forcing the leg into lotus position or Padmasana because of the pressure of twisting the leg at the knee to lift the foot on top of the other thigh. Today, I did a full session of yoga without any difficulty, but I did not try lotus (nor do I ever because I'll need a couple of years to work into it). I could even do something like pigeon pose without causing discomfort.
