week 1
I tried Mysore style ashtanga yoga first. It was a 6am start which meant the studio was really quiet and calm. There was a welcoming teacher who explained how the class worked and returned to me with guidance throughout. I had to concentrate hard in order to learn sequences by heart. Although this meant I couldn’t hide at the back of the class, the focus stopped me from making comparisons and being put off.
I was knocked off my bike on Tuesday and injured my shoulder and wrist. I was worried about how much yoga I could manage. I asked the ambulance crew and they thought I should be back to yoga within a couple of weeks. Not good for Mat Men… Needless to say, I chose an open yoga class the next day. The teacher checked for any injuries and made comments about protecting shoulders which reassured me to continue.
Then I tried a Scaravelli class which was really fun and shows the great variety of yoga available.
The classes have started to settle me into the studio and have increased my confidence to carry on. I have booked another Mysore class for tomorrow morning.
week 2
So as I wrote last week, I was worried about how much yoga I could manage after being hit by a car…it turns out that yoga got me through it though, along with lots of baths with the Epsom salts I bought from the triyoga shop.
This week I tried Anna Ashby’s open yoga and a couple of Jivamukti classes. I also managed to run, swim twice, go to the gym and cycle to work every day. The balance of exercise is different to usual, but I’ve felt my recovery and fitness improving.
My confidence in the studio has continued to grow. All of the teachers welcomed newcomers and explained the class philosophy. Anna’s class really helped me to shift some lower back pain and I managed a headstand in Jivamukti. As long as I listened really well and followed instructions for when to breathe and what to move, I didn’t need to know the poses. I think the chanting is very good.
The studio in Shoreditch is a haven from the Baltic climes we’ve been suffering. I’m definitely planning on more yoga next week until the sun comes out.
week 3
At the start of Mat Men, I wanted to find more confidence to go to classes and be in a studio. I even wondered if doing yoga on my own at home was a bad idea. This week’s yoga helped to answer those questions.
I did some Hatha classes with Tracy Bickley. I found Tracy really fun and interesting to listen to; she asked us to lose our inhibitions and to use our voices – we made wolf cries. Breathing was a big focus – Tracy asked more experienced students to breath louder to enable less familiar students to feel more confident to use the ujjayi breath. There was some camaraderie in the balance work too. I heard a lady next me say ‘help me!’ and then saw her mate come over to help. Cute.
Classes so far have repeatedly explained it is important to focus on your own practice and ability, and not worry if you can’t reach your toes – it’s not helpful to compare with the next person, and this still stands. But there does also seem to be something about the group experience which chimes with what I do as a speech therapist – you can’t practise talking on your own. This week, we were told that even by just being in a room together, we were sharing our yoga practice. Perhaps it’s like going through a significant experience with other people, and then feeling a connection with those people simply because of the experience you have shared.
week 4
This was the final week so I took the opportunity to choose a style of classes that has been very challenging for me in the past – Vinyasa Flow. This time around, the classes helped me to try out new things. Again, there was a lot of benefit of being in a group vs practising alone at home.
In previous experiences of Vinyasa Flow, I’ve been left to feel a bit silly, losing my balance while others around fall into each other. Classes so large the teacher cannot possibly ensure safe practice. Scary. The classes at triyoga were different. As well as teaching from the mat, there was a greater emphasis on teaching by walking around the group, approaching individuals to make adjustments and give advice on how to do something differently and feel greater benefit. The instructions and pace were quicker than in other styles of yoga, but sequences were repeated and there was nice preparation before reaching pinnacle poses that were more advanced. I was very pleased to manage a brief handstand against the wall 🙂 I really took confidence from the teachers and from others around me. While there was no chatting with other people in the class, there was a sense of getting through the demanding parts together and this spurred me on.
Alongside the physical practice, I’ve come to really appreciated the teachers’ chosen themes for classes and the wisdom they have shared with us. One of the classes focused on the history of Easter (before the bible) and themes of fertility, development and growth. We were asked to think of an intention for growth for our practice that day, perhaps something we may not even dare to consider could be possible. This class was wonderful and the connection between the physical and the mind contributed to a completeness I would never normally feel from ‘doing some yoga’ at home.
Over the last four weeks, Mat Men has helped me to understand the benefits of being in a studio for my practice. I feel much more confident to take part in yoga classes and have advanced my practice as a result. Thank you.
