It's the beginning of Week Three, and I have had classes now with Prashant, Geetaji, Abhijata and Gulnaz as well as two different teachers for Pranayama.
Prashant's classes (7 am) are intense and unlike anything I have ever experienced. No demo...no instruction. He calls out a pose, then talks philosophically about yoga. Sometimes it is a three-ring circus in a good way...some of the group hangs from the ropes in various poses, some are in chairs, some are on the floor in front of him. There is a theme each class, and as he talks, we all work in the pose using our own internal dialogue. His talks can be entertaining (he invents words, has a rapid-fire delivery, and has a quirky sense of humor), inspiring (when I eventually catch on to the theme and start working in that way, it starts to sink in to the body), and confusing. The three hour practice afterward always begins with a restorative pose for me!
Abhi, Guruji's 26 year old grand neice, is a wonderful teacher in her own right, clear and with a wonderful sense of humor. At times she teaches with Guruji sitting in his spot on the side of the room...he sees everything and throws her tidbits that he wants us to work on. These classes are rare and so humbling. For example, after we had all gone up, in waves, in hand stand, his comment was that our hands all looked like "cow pies"...just dropped on the ground, no focus! That got a laugh. The instructions that ensued next resulted in big improvements and "AHHs!" from those in the pose.
Geetaji...we are so lucky that she is healthier and feeling well enough to teach. First timers only get one class a week with her, so it's precious. Her themes are wonderful, vigorous and challenging. There is no demonstrating...we are expected to know and do, and even if we don't know the pose (which happened last week), she explains it step by step until we get there. Last week she started with quick sun salutations to warm us up and then we went right into revolved standing poses. I had just practice those that morning so I was prepared...but then she brilliantly led us progressively through a series of seated twisting or padmasana/marichyasana variations that I had never done before. Something to aspire to!
Gulnaz...great sequencer, very thematic, very focused, great sense of humor as she gets us logically from A to Z in the class. She does demonstrate, but usually not until she sees something she wants to correct. Today's theme headed us toward Headstand drop backs! I say "Towards" as I had never tried these before and worked at the wall toward bringing my feet to the ground...I think I can do some by the end of the week now that I know how to get there!
Prashant's classes (7 am) are intense and unlike anything I have ever experienced. No demo...no instruction. He calls out a pose, then talks philosophically about yoga. Sometimes it is a three-ring circus in a good way...some of the group hangs from the ropes in various poses, some are in chairs, some are on the floor in front of him. There is a theme each class, and as he talks, we all work in the pose using our own internal dialogue. His talks can be entertaining (he invents words, has a rapid-fire delivery, and has a quirky sense of humor), inspiring (when I eventually catch on to the theme and start working in that way, it starts to sink in to the body), and confusing. The three hour practice afterward always begins with a restorative pose for me!
Abhi, Guruji's 26 year old grand neice, is a wonderful teacher in her own right, clear and with a wonderful sense of humor. At times she teaches with Guruji sitting in his spot on the side of the room...he sees everything and throws her tidbits that he wants us to work on. These classes are rare and so humbling. For example, after we had all gone up, in waves, in hand stand, his comment was that our hands all looked like "cow pies"...just dropped on the ground, no focus! That got a laugh. The instructions that ensued next resulted in big improvements and "AHHs!" from those in the pose.
Geetaji...we are so lucky that she is healthier and feeling well enough to teach. First timers only get one class a week with her, so it's precious. Her themes are wonderful, vigorous and challenging. There is no demonstrating...we are expected to know and do, and even if we don't know the pose (which happened last week), she explains it step by step until we get there. Last week she started with quick sun salutations to warm us up and then we went right into revolved standing poses. I had just practice those that morning so I was prepared...but then she brilliantly led us progressively through a series of seated twisting or padmasana/marichyasana variations that I had never done before. Something to aspire to!
Gulnaz...great sequencer, very thematic, very focused, great sense of humor as she gets us logically from A to Z in the class. She does demonstrate, but usually not until she sees something she wants to correct. Today's theme headed us toward Headstand drop backs! I say "Towards" as I had never tried these before and worked at the wall toward bringing my feet to the ground...I think I can do some by the end of the week now that I know how to get there!
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