Class notes 3/27/05, Beg. Ashtanga 2

An observation from class: Creativity and humor in instructional design applied to yoga. This engages the class and produces light-heartedness.

T. was in good teaching form today, this last Ashtanga class of the quarter. She had gone on a trip and seen eagles nests the day before, this led to us doing something called eagle pose (Garudasana), which I call "lets pretend we're Kali and wrap our legs and arms around each other" pose. I'd done this one before and actually like it a lot, and found it was much easier to balance on one foot and get into the pose this time around. Continuing on the bird theme, then there was Crane (Bakasana), which is not easy at this point, and I could not hold it. We then moved into Pigeon, the easy one, not the one shown on the link, for a nice hip-opener. She noted Pigeon is not in Ashtanga Primary series, but it fit the bird theme, so there you go. Completing the set was Fish (Matsyasana), the teacher mentioned something about the back at this point and used the example of salmon swimming upstream. No tie-in to the bird theme was mentioned, so I volunteered that salmon is what eagles eat, thus completing the set. This was a great example of creativity and humor used in yoga instruction, most of it seemingly put together on the fly. I think that the entire bird theme will make these poses easier to remember.

Also of note:
Double Dip Chataranga: Lower into Chataranga, and after Up Dog move back into Plank and lower down, move directly into Down Dog from the lowered position.