Yesterday my friend Jo and I went to a full moon yoga workshop called 'For The Love Of Yoga' in the wilds of Stoke Newington (both of our first times there!). Jo is one of my oldest and best friends - we've known each other since starting secondary school 22 (!) years ago, and while she kindly asked me to come along and take her qualifying class for her own yoga teacher training, we've never actually practiced together. This was a golden opportunity to get to spend some quality time doing yoga together.
The workshop was run by her former teacher, Bridget Luff. It wasn't really a workshop in the sense of note-taking, but it clearly wasn't full-on flow - I wouldn't even quite know how to classify it. Bridget said that her main thing was thinking about being flexible with your positioning and not just relying on cues you've learnt from previous teachers. Always ask why, and do what works best for you.
It was quite chilled out and not too challenging, barring the point at which we flowed from downward dog to something called rock star into wild thing into downward dog into forward fold (I think) into half moon. Rock star, she said, is quite a popular thing to incorporate into flows - you basically go from downward dog onto one foot, but not quite on the full foot, and you lift your other foot up in the air, along with an arm. It's like halfway into wild thing, and you just hold it there. And when you come out of wild thing, you do the same thing going back.
To be honest holding rock star was too tough for me. I'm not sure if that's because it's something I need to practice, because I'm bigger than other women in the class and therefore I'm putting more pressure on a small part of my body due to weight, if it's because I wasn't doing it right... but I did try and Google it and could not find anything, for the life of me, so I might ask one of my own yoga teachers about it going forward. Personally I was quite happy flowing straight into wild thing, which is such a lovely pose. I could stay in it for ages (but I am still working on making sure my positioning is right when I go down into it).
Apart from that and an issue with my open hips on a back bend (because at this stage I don't know the names of everything I have also failed at Googling that one - it's when you have your leg back against your hip and your other foot straight forward) I found everything manageable, although foolishly I'd worn what I thought would be good leggings (H&M proper fit ones) and it was so hot and they were a bit too constrictive, and I still spent a lot of time not feeling comfortable. I really need to find some good yoga kit, both top half and bottom half. It interrupts the flow when you're constantly tugging at your clothes.
After class I spoke to Bridget, to thank her for the adjustments, and she kindly said (without prompting!) that my practice was good and I clearly knew what I was doing (*swoon*). Jo said that she thought my yoga practice had improved a lot since her class (late last year) and that I just needed to spend time getting super comfortable and familiar with all the basic poses. As in, I know how to do them already, but she thinks that it's sensible I'm taking a year to broaden my practice before training, and wants me to focus on just being really happy with knowing exactly what I'm doing. Her opinion, both as a friend and as a qualified yoga teacher, means a lot to me! I really want to train but I don't want to feel like a fish out of water doing it.
After class I picked up my keyboard and sound box from a friend I'd lent it to who happened to be in the vicinity, and then Jo and I walked back to the bus stop 20 minutes away, stopping off for a Magnum and Calippo shots on the way (much needed, it was about 28 degrees yesterday). I really enjoyed practicing with Jo - I glanced at her a few times and her practice is so solid and lovely - and I hope we get to do more. I would really like to do a vinyasa flow/ashtanga class rather than workshop too with her so we can do some flow together!
Today the front of my thighs are absolutely caning - interestingly, I have been having issues with this (pangs when I try to do half moon, finding it too tight to get into bow pose) and Bridget was working on loosening up this area - and it's also been really useful to get an understanding of the point of anatomical sequencing from this workshop (she said she always looks to focus on something specific - in this case these muscles). It's good to be reminded that there are ways to stretch in yoga that fit with physio, too, as sometimes it feels like the more yoga you do the more physio you need!