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Day 3: One Size Fits No One

Margaret Kruszewska

MS_Anusara_day3.jpgSo I get that there is no set yoga sequence in Anusara Yoga. Although they seem to favor the upper body balancers and rotating thighs – somehow – still not clear about which direction we’re spiraling.

The yoga teacher is then responsible for choosing the order of the yoga postures and deciding how long students hold the pose and when to allow rest breaks. So if the teacher has something on his mind, you will be the recipient of it.

What to do but keep stretching your hamstrings while he begins class by chatting about his week. Nothing like unloading his burden by “sharing” it with the class: computer break-ins, sick relative, business is slow, time pressures. Ah well, glad the teacher felt better after that little intro!Today’s yoga instructor was actually very good with the verbal instructions. Clear, simple language while he demonstrated the yoga pose showing hand and foot placement and how to go deeper into the pose. For visual learners, there is nothing like watching a muscle press down to get it into our body. He was confident in his hands-on adjustments which were supportive and instructional.

Then we came to a what looked like a great upper body balancer (without the trauma of a handstand!); Dolphin arms with legs walking up the wall. He showed how it’s done with arms close to wall – and let me describe him physically as a short compact fellow – and we went off to climb our own walls. Now my body is very different from his (in more ways than one!) – my arms and legs are almost freakishly long – so I adjusted the distance accordingly, knowing I need more room for my long-legged climb up the wall.

Picture this: if we were both going into the pose side by side -his arm placement would have to be closer to the wall than mine cause his legs were considerably shorter, right? But he kept telling me to come in closer, where his placement had been, and I kept trying to walk but of course did not have room to straighten my legs fully.

He didn’t get it. I’ve experienced this with other teachers: a blind spot in considering body types and proportions of limbs to torso. It’s geometry as far as I’m concerned but any time we are convinced that the arm placement should be here and not there, we’re not really looking at the student’s body and what they need.

One Yoga Size Does Not Fit All!

Six Days of Intense Anusara Yoga

[tags] anusara yoga, yoga teachers,yoga instruction,handstands[/tags]

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