schemingreader

I was still feeling kind sick today, but I decided I was well enough to go to yoga. This whole "sick" thing has been pretty amorphous, anyway--I haven't felt like eating, I've been nauseated and really exhausted. In yoga today I could feel that I was still too tired, but it was fun anyway.

My teacher was one of Iyengar's first disciples, and she has another teacher, a woman my age, who is her disciple. They deviate from Iyengar's rigidities in some ways--though in good ways, not bad ones; Iyengar teachers are noted for their ability to keep you safe in yoga class, and that's definitely true of my teacher.

One thing I really like in yoga is the silly use of language. sscrewdriver (my fellow casual yogini) knows how much I like neologisms, slang and little phrases.

My teacher compares our toes to petals of a rose, the metatarsals of our feet to the fan of a peacock. She talks about the muscles of the chest opening like a Chinese fan (and she'll bring out the fan to show you!) She also mentions Buddhist sculpture from Cambodia. Some of her less successful metaphors have involved comparing the pads of the feet and hands to dragging a computer mouse on a pad. Eh?

The younger teacher, whom I had today for a make-up class, memorably compared the soft placement of the toes to Marshmallow Peeps. Today she explained how to pull up our knees by comparing the body to a model airplane of the type driven by a rubber band. (Do you remember those?) Also she compared our Warrior 2 pose to a kite--in terms of the cross placement of the limbs, but it was a good one.

I also like it when my teacher speaks French. I know it's affected but I just find it adorable when she says "Voila, cherie!" Also I love the younger teacher for her tendency to footnote everything she's learned from any of her previous teachers, "this is what Zoe calls --" etc.

I will never post photos of myself doing yoga, as painless_j did recently. For one thing, my body is no advertisement for yoga--and it probably never will be. I know I'm not really suited to yoga. My brain flits from thing to thing, I'm too goal oriented, I'm not very flexible, I have injuries that probably won't ever completely heal to give me full mobility, I have crap posture even in Tadasana.

But it is fun.

ETA: Okay, now I'm feeling guilty because I seem to be suggesting that you have to have a perfect body to do yoga. sscrewdriver does it, and she uses a wheelchair to get around. I'm not the least able (or even the fattest!) person in my class. (though I think I have the least consistent, lamest yoga practice!)

So I'll consider letting my husband take a photo of me upside down sometime. I might have some issues about my body to overcome before I can do that! Maybe I'll set a goal about that. Heh! So non-yogish of me.