Random practice notes for criminals

The Diver was out this weekend, so he announced a sub in advance.

Just like in high school, attendance for class was lower than usual this morning. It was a shame because our sub had a nice, graceful style and stuck with the Diver's approach for most of the class. My feeling is that anyone who is asked by Diver to teach is going to be okay by me.

Some might have thought it was Diver Lite, since she dialed things back and broke down advanced poses into easier-to-approach parts. She skipped a few of poses from primary and I don't think we did anything that took anyone over the edge. She did however add a few poses that mixed things up a bit and kept it interesting. For us criminals, she threw in parvritta janu sirsasna inbetween the janu's, a pose which I haven't done in ages. There was also a familiar hip flexor sequence beginning with a forward lunge, then straight arms over the head and lifting the hands that go over and keep reaching back. That's a Diver favorite.

One of my faves was a mini-set around eka pada raja kapotasana with some nice variations. After folding and laying your torso over the shin of your bent right leg with hands and arms straight in front of you, you then bend your straight left leg, reach behind and across your back with your right hand taking the left foot. After working the hip flexors, glutes, back thigh and piriformis, it's a bonus pose that stretches your quads.

And as a final random practice note, I liked how she intro'd navasana and said to roll your shoulders back, keeping your chest lifted before you straighten your legs and extend your arms. It's easy to cave your chest in while you're trying hold the pose with your abs.

Photo credit to houseoflucas.com. Thanks, Rob!

My little good deed for the day

Yesterday, on the last day of my long weekend in Vancouver, I distributed postcards promoting The Diver's workshop. I knew it would be a bit unrealistic to expect Vancouverites to drive 3 hours to Seattle to attend the month-long series, but hey, you never know. Mostly, I wanted to use the opportunity to promote The Diver's shala and encourage Vancouverites who might come down for a bit of cross-border shopping to take in a class or two as well.

On my last visit (see previous post), I went to Ashtanga Yoga Vancouver for mysore and dropped off a few cards. They were great. Emboldened by my success, I went to visit two Lululemon stores. Now, before you go hating on them, I have to say that they are very cool about putting up info on their community boards. I remember the founder, Chip Wilson, who made a zillion dollars when Lulu went public, used to go to ashtanga classes when I was just starting out. I even remember visiting his first "store" which wasn't much except for racks and racks of athletic wear made specifically for yoga. He's a canny business guy, that's for sure.

The other place I stopped by was Half Moon Yoga, which makes a lot of yoga blocks and props for wholesale and under their own label. They sell a lot of yoga shit, even the black rolling ball that I use in my pre-practice. They have a small little store on Granville Island, which is a popular tourist destination. A bit scary to visit on a long weekend, amid the cars and hordes of tourists, but it was worth it. Thanks, guys!

While I was doing all of this, it occured to me that it is much easier for me, the student, to do this kind of promotion, than to expect my teacher to do it. I had to do a little bit of selling, especially to people who didn't know him from Richard Simmons.

I'm not into cult worship, but I think we could all add a few grace notes of respect to our teachers. I'm guilty of not doing this enough, just like anyone else. You pay your money, you attend the class, end of business transaction. But it's something more I think. Kind of like the martial arts students who sweep the floor before practice and pour tea for Si-Fu (Teacher). They acknowledge and honor him, his years of experience and expertise, and realize how fucking lucky they are to be in his presence.

I actually like that my teacher is an expert in yoga, not marketing. He didn't even put his website on the postcard.

Here we go again!

Cripes, I don't want to move again!

I've been following The Diver since he moved here to Seattle from Colorado about five or so years ago. First, he subbed at the Practice Space (a lovely boutique space), then when it folded he moved a few students to his Loft/Studio in Ballard. In honor of his guru Richard Freeman, he called it the Yoga Workshop. Hardly anyone came cuz no one knew his brilliance and since this town is filled to the gills with yoga studios, anyone who was practicing already had a plethora of choices at the nearest street corner. Then he went to Belltown Yoga, where they were teaching hot yoga classes. Not much activity there. So he relocated to Eight Limbs in Capitol Hill. It's one of the largest and busiest studios in Seattle. Nice and stable. The Diver stayed there for a year, if I recall, then decided it was time to make a break. Hence the move to Velocity Dance where we're at now in the very cool Odd Fellows Hall. A huge, beautiful space but with great potential for high-end condos.

We have until July before the lease runs out. The new landlord is reportedly tripling the rent, but he wants people not to hate on him. He is supposed to be very supportive of dance and the arts. At triple the rent.

Oy! I don't know where we'll be next. Apparently there are discussions to finalize a place nearby in the neighborhood, but nothing's firm yet.

I know myself well enough that if I don't go to a studio, I don't do my practice other than maybe a few lazy-bones yin poses. It's too hard to motivate myself to do anything more serious at home. :(