Challenges of an All-Level Class

Last night, I went to a yoga studio that I’d never tried before but have noticed for a long time because the studio is just a few blocks away from where I work. It’s much smaller than the one I always go to; this one is very neat and nicely decorated. The place made me feel comfortable and like I was at home. There is only one yoga room with probably the capacity to fill 8-10 people. A small window is situated at the top of one wall. If there were a few more students in that room, I would’ve definitely felt claustrophobic.

Luckily, there were only 4 students. I like smaller groups, that way, the yoga instructor can pay attention to each individual. Because I’m still a beginner, I need my poses to be corrected to find where the center of my body is.

Last night was my first time going to an “All-Level” class by myself. Since I was comfortable staying in a beginner’s class, it was a scary thought to try a multi-level course, but at the same time, it was an exciting adventure.

Before the class started, the instructor asked if I had any experience in yoga. I answered that I only had just a little, meaning I was still a beginner.

The class started with everyone chanting Om. Then, I realized after several poses, that the instructor didn’t demonstrate how we should do them, but just told us what pose would be next. Well, again, I am a beginner. All I know are downward-facing dog, cobra, tree pose and a few other basics.

She continued announcing the half moon pose, triangle pose, hand stand pose and more unknown poses without her demonstrating them. What I had to do was watch other students do the poses first, which was not good as you can imagine, because I copied whatever they were doing whether I felt they did these correctly or not. Plus, I didn’t know how to transition, so I just did whatever I could. It’s good for advanced students but not for me. I mean it’s a great challenge. I had a great time learning and experiencing more advanced poses, but I wanted to know the flow of those poses and where to start them, etc.

However, no matter what the challenges were that I faced during the course, I enjoyed myself using muscles that normally lay dormant, and aligning my body, which I needed because my body felt icky. I felt my mind relaxed after the class and, yes, I woke up before the alarm went off this morning and felt refreshed as usual after doing yoga.

[tags]all level class, mixed level yoga practice, om, relaxation, refresh[/tags]