Thursday, April 22, 2010

Back to Basics


I have signed up for a 4 week Yoga class at the Sivananda Center here in Paris. We have class twice a week and each class lasts 1.5 hours. I needed to get back into yoga, and doing it on my own wasn't working. I signed up for the "debutantes" class because I wanted to ease back into it, to learn all this group has to teach about the basic postures, and to be able to understand the French. I was most nervous about the French. My french is slowly improving, but that doesn't stop me from fretting. :D Well, the first class was wonderful. The teacher is a really gentle sweet man. He may be in his 30s, but he could be in his 50s for all I know. There are 8 students in the class, one of whom is disabled. The room is bright and airy. The class went like this: discussion of foundation of Sivananda center, the basic branches of Yoga, chanting, eye exercises, learning to breath, a few basic poses, relaxation, and more chanting.

absolutely wonderful. And I learned a new word: le ventre is the belly. :D

and today's class was even better. We did the eye exercises, the sun salutation, shoulder stand, fish pose, seated forward bend. chanting. relaxation.

I feel absolutely fantastic, very happy, and not afraid to try speaking french. That's the funniest part of this. Not only am I becoming more aware of the present moment again, but after yoga I feel more inclined to try communicating in French.

The teacher today was discussing the benefits of yoga (as far as I could tell, at least). And he was talking about the balance between flexibility and strength. And he said something about NOT getting "washboard abs"....but, he didn't use the analogy of a washboard. He said "a package of chocolate" instead.




Isn't that awesome? I love the visual of that, and the fact that this Frenchman sees those abs and is reminded of food. love it!

3 comments:

Blind Dog Megan said...

I am really curious about the eye exercises you did- what were they?

So glad you are back in yoga- sounds great!

Chocolate bar abs- yeah!

Anonymous said...

yay yoga!

a. brooke said...

i need to get back into yoga! miss you, becky.