They were a very talkative bunch to begin, and the energy seemed pretty high, a little frantic.
I asked what people thought they might need, and they all laughed!
3 were wearing watches, so I suggested they consider removing their watches before practicing, telling them that I would keep track of the hour and that they needn't think of time while they were here.
I also took a pair of sandals that were at the foot of someone's mat and put them down near the door.
When she said she didn't know I was so careful about "cleaning up", I told them that shoes didn't have any place in the yoga studio....it also made me realize no one had read their hand-outs, Protocol in The Yoga Studio, which they all got on the first day....
Hmmmmm
We started in Savasana and simply lay still and quiet for several long moments.
I then directed them to the 3 Part Yoga Breath, so that I could get them focused and calmed down.
From here we inhaled to Upward Salute, brought the palms together, brought the forearms together over the face, brought the hands into Namaste. Repeated several times.
Brought the arms out to a T, and inhaled the right foot up along the left leg into a Supine Tree. Brought the knee up, foot on mat, and did a counter stretch by allowing the knee to fall gently over the left leg.
Repeated on left side with another Tree, then came into Supine Bound Angle. Brought the palms together in Namaste, then interlaced the fingers and brought the hands back to support the head, allowing elbows to open and drop to the mat.
Folded the elbows up beside the temples, folded the knees up, feet to mat, and brought the Knees To Chest.
Did a series of Elbow to Opposite Knee, but looking around the room, I realized this was tough for the others.
Came back to the mat, opened the legs in Supine Bound Angle, allowed the elbows to open once again.
Took a long breath here.
Brought Knees to Chest, wrapped arms around knees and rocked.
Then came into a very gentle Bridge series, which I initially demonstrated. I explained that a Bridge could even be as easy as raising the pelvis and hips 2 inches from the mat and just breathing.
We practiced one Bridge, came down with Knees To Chest, rocked again.
Came back to a 2nd Bridge, this time with a bit more stretch if we felt like it. Directed them in interlacing fingers, bringing arms under back for a deep stretch.
Then decided to do some Knee Rotations in both directions, then brought the knees to the right in a deep Spinal Twist, arms out to a T.
Repeated on left side, then once again on the right, this time bringing the arm up, rolling to our right sides, then opening up again for a deeper twist. Repeated on the left side.
Came up to sit on our mats in Easy Pose.
I directed them in a new pose I call the Bored Student--elbow on knee, head relaxed and tilted into the cradle of the palm. This actually gives a nice stretch on the opposite side of the ribs, all the way down to the upper glute and down the leg.
Changed sides. We actually laughed while doing this, which is probably good too.
Did a series of Forward Bends and Roll-Ups, along with Back Bends from this sitting position, then came into
Staff Pose, did Windshield Wipers with feet, then Wrist Rotations, then tried to combine the two and laughed some more.
Did a few really nice Forward Bends from Staff Pose, after raising the arms up to really get a nice stretch in the torso. Then rolled inward, and upward.
From here, we rolled our mats up a bit, found a wall and did a nice Meditation with Mudra.
Finally came into a 6 minute Savasana.
When we finally got up, everyone was very mellow, but within minutes, it was very talky again!
Everyone seemed to have a good time.
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