Teacher Training
Tonight I took the Hot Power Fusion class with Jessica. This was my second class as part of my upcoming yoga teacher training at CorePower Yoga. First observation? I walked into the studio to set up my mat and there was WAY more people in class than there were in last night’s class. Since space was limited, I set up my mat in the back row. There was a woman set up directly in front of me in the front row. Normally, I would have moved a little to the left or to the right so I could see myself in the mirror, but I had someone set up pretty closely to me on both sides of my mat. I had nowhere else to go and no room to adjust.
To make matters worse, as soon as I lay down on my mat and waited for class to start, I could feel my mat was still damp from last night’s class. I didn’t think I had sweat enough to need to wash my mat after class, but apparently I did. Not only was my mat wet, but it stunk too. Ugh!
During the whole warm up series, I couldn’t get over not being able to see myself in the front mirror. The woman in front of me had no one on either side of her. Couldn’t she see that she was completely blocking my view of the front mirror? Why couldn’t she just move over so slightly to one side? It wasn’t until we had our first official water break when I realized the Universe was teaching me a lesson with this situation. It was my own fault for why I couldn’t see myself in the front mirror. If I want a clear view of myself in the mirror, I need to pony up and set up my mat in the front row next time. In a Bikram Yoga class, I almost always set up my mat in the front row. The front, left hand corner of the studio is my preferred spot to set up for class. Whenever I’m new to a studio, I typically hide in the back row for the first few classes until I feel comfortable enough to move forward. Since this was only my second class in, I didn’t feel comfortable enough setting up in the front row yet. It was silly of me to expect to have a clear view of myself the front mirror from the back row in a crowded class. So for the rest of the class, I practiced the art of letting go and was perfectly fine not being able to see myself in the mirror.
As for the actual yoga in class tonight, I was still all over the place and watching the people around me for hands and feet placement and to see how to set up in some of the postures that were still unfamiliar to me. It seemed like we did more back bends in tonight’s class than in the class the night before. Maybe it was the same amount of back bends, but I just noticed them more tonight? Either way, I love back bends! When we did the official back bend during the warm up, my back cracked loudly in a couple different places. It felt amazing and satisfying. Fixed Firm posture is one of my favorite postures to do in Bikram Yoga. For some reason I haven’t been able to get as deep into this posture in a Hot Power Fusion class like I can in a Bikram Yoga class. My body hasn’t felt as warmed up and stretched out like it normally does. I’ve been playing it safe and not going as deep into this posture like I usually do.
One of my most favorite things about a CorePower Yoga class is being able to listen to music while doing yoga. With Bikram Yoga, there’s no music so having music in class is considered a luxury. During class tonight, I kept thinking about what my playlist would be like in my own yoga class. Maybe classic rock? A little David Bowie? Pinback perhaps? Maybe some old school hip hop or even a little dub step? I’m so emotionally drawn to music. My own playlist would probably change weekly, depending on my mood and current musical tastes. I’m constantly updating my playlists for activities like running, hiking and snowboarding. I’d imagine I’d do the same thing for yoga.
Class #2, Hot Power Fusion (HPF-2)