yoga works sets up a teachers practice every 2-3 months, either with a local teacher or a visiting teacher. yesterday we were so fortunate to be led by visiting teacher from Los Angeles, natasha rizopolos. i'm sure you recognize her from the pages of yoga journal magazine.
i had heard so much about her but had never practiced with her before so i was very excited to be able to spend two hours soaking up some of her knowledge. natasha has an ashtanga background (like me) and i was wondering how hard the class was going to be.
she started us off in a supported backbend for about 5-8 minutes and from there led us through sun salutations and standing poses with a focus on backbending. she always made it a point to PAUSE and focus on alignment.
natasha is very softspoken as well as well spoken and has a wonderful way of explaining what she wants from her students, all while being encouraging. her voice makes your body want to melt into the asanas.
the practice felt very easy, i was a bit surprise, but when i woke up this morning i felt areas of my body i had not felt in awhile. so it wasn't that easy ...
when i experience this, i am always reminded of how hard an easy class can be when it is designed to focus on the right things.
key words i took away from the class were ALIGNMENT and PAUSE.
natasha made an impression on me and has inspired me to pause and to find more ease in the flow.
practice, practice, practice :-)
[i brought my camera so i could take a picture of us together, but after the class i felt so dazed that i totally forgot, hence the picture above that i found on yogajournal.com. oh, well, next time].
for more info on natasha, check out http://www.natasharizopolos.com/ when she's in your area join her class/workshop. i'm sure you will leave with your own key words to practice.
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