Yoga? Meditation? Anyone?

kshama2001 wrote: »

apullum wrote: »

vanityy99 wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

Danp wrote: »

I don't know if 'yoga' and 'mediation' belong in the same sentence.

I tried yoga once or twice and to be frank it was quite possibly one of the least relaxing and meditative thing I've ever done! LOL

vanityy99 wrote: »

What he said.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and speculate y'all's classes were not "beginner," "gentle," or "restorative" yoga.

Your speculation is wrong.

Some teachers are very bad at understanding what “beginner” yoga is. In my first class, which was advertised as a “beginner” class, everyone around me was doing Crow pose and I felt like a yoga failure because I couldn’t do it. Crow is not a beginner pose for most people, but the class implied that it was. I was so discouraged that I didn’t try yoga again for about five more years. I still can’t do Crow.

That was my next guess - a mischaracterized class.

I once went to a weekend retreat that was supposed to be for "all levels" but was mostly hardcore Ashtangis. One teacher seemed bemused when I sat out the parts I wasn't comfortable with, but my experience in the military had taught me to recognize when I need more instruction.

Wow. I don't think I have ever encountered a yoga instructor who didn't at least pay lip service to the ideas of listening to your body and offering adaptations or easier versions of poses. I've encountered some who seemed to be only paying lip service to those ideas, but the large majority of teachers I've worked with seemed to really believe in them. Good for you understanding that better than that teacher.

when i teach my aerial yoga classes, we always end with corpse or legs up the wall pose.
the classes aren't particularily relaxing except our restorative classes.
as a teacher, i try to respect people's boundaries/abilities, but sometimes, a little extra push is necessary.
the words "i can't" are not allowed in my class.