YogaDay2

Whoa. Totally different class. The owner of the studio, Dean, led us this time. There were about 13 people and a contagious positivity.
When I checked in at the front desk and told him I was new, he welcomed me. As I walked toward the changing rooms, he said, "delightful." As I've said before, I learn something new in yoga EVERY TIME I practice. This session, it was the power of the ohm. In all the classes I've been in, if there are ohms, we start or end with them. The whole room sits cross legged, takes a deep breath and releases it slowly with sound. Usually we repeat it like three times so it's sort of a rolling of highs and lows, stops and starts. There's a vibration in the room that actually tickles.

Well, today, this crazy guy asked us to ohm while holding difficult poses. So instead of focusing on my balance as I held my foot in dancer's pose, I made sound with the others in the room. It takes some effort for me to get the right ohm because of my tone deafness. Mine sounds like the out of tune guitar in the bunch. So as I'm trying to blend my ohm with the sound swell, the voices hold me up. I'm not thinking, just being.

Here is dancer's pose. My leg is never that high. See how you'd be inclined to psyche yourself into falling? Ohms help.

The ohms helped me pull off another pose I'd never done before. I can't remember the name of it, but you start out in a side angle. (get into a lunge and then reach your top arm forward, laying it on your ear while the other one extends to the floor)

My hand rarely touches the floor.

Then bind. (arms wrapped awkwardly and hands held together so you can't really move)

I have flexy shoulders, so I can do this.

This is where it gets interesting. Dean told us to creep our extended leg forward while holding the bind. After we got our feet side by side, we were to shift the weight to the free leg and stand up straight! Then eventually straighten the bound leg so it was pointing to the sky. I'm not going to say my leg was straight, but it gives me hope for day ten! oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm