Learning about home practice
We’re not here to serve the (yoga) poses. These poses are here to serve us.
~Vickie Russell Bell in last night’s yoga teacher training class
Utthita Trikonasana (Extended Triangle Pose) is one of the basic 30 poses and the pose I was assigned to describe what my feet and ankles are doing in terms of anatomy. This poster has the basic poses, plus a few extra.
Yesterday was my first Saturday class with Piedmont Yoga Studio’s Deep Yoga teacher training program. We have class every Thursday night and one Saturday a month.
Yesterday we got to get to know each other and we discussed home practice.
I loved working with others to brainstorm and giving each other advice and suggestions.
For most of us in the group our biggest obstacle with maintaining a regular home practice, which is ideally at least 45 minutes and five times a week, is time.
We talked about priorities in life and the “sacred hour.” What do we want to accomplish in the hour we set aside for our sacred hour? Vickie said her four things in the sacred hour are writing, asana (yoga poses), meditation and restorative.
Before deciding how much time to spend on each we should ask ourselves: How do I want to feel? How do I get there?
Earlier in the day we talked about standing poses we liked and didn’t like. On Thursday Baxter assigned each of us a pose to look up, practice and to study and pay attention to the feet.
Vickie had us take those three poses and add two more, write them out in an order we thought would work. Practice it, edit, practice, edit …
The standing pose I picked that I like: Ardha Uttanasana (Standing Half Forward Bend). The standing pose I don’t like is pretty much any balancing pose. But I went with Vrksasana (Tree Pose). I get so frustrated with my balance.
Baxter assigned me Utthita Trikonasana (Extended Triangle Pose).
The two poses I added were Uttanasana (Full Forward Bend) and Adho Mukha Savanasana (Downward Facing Dog).
This was a great practice and an instant home practice “recipe.”
Our homework from Vickie was to continue working with these five poses and add five more for home practice. Of the five new poses to add, Savasana (Corpse Pose). Restorative poses are important in any practice, whether at home, the gym or the studio.
Maybe once I get my 10-pose practice figured out I can share with you.