Saturday, June 11, 2011

12th Class for the week





So today I decided to take the 12th class that is offered on Saturday mornings after our regular class.

This is known as the "make up" class and you HAVE to take one for every time you forget to sign in to a lecture or yoga class, or if you are late, etc. They are held over our head as a threat for anyone who steps out of line and is basically deemed a fate worse than death. After all, by the end of the week having done 11 classes in 6 days the thought of having to spend another 90 mins in the hot room is hardly appealing.

So why would I volunteer to do this class? Because of the teacher! A very special person here who gets a round of applause every time he simply walks into the room. and yet still remains so humble and genuine. He is Balwan, and is by far the most loved staff member here. Because he has only been teaching for a year (?) he is not allowed to teach our regular class (despite his popularity) but when I found out he was teaching today's make up class I jumped at the chance to do it.

So that meant doing two classes back to back, no easy feat when you've already got ten under your belt! But you know what, I went in with no expectations and ended up having one of my best classes to date. Firstly because there was only about 100 people in the room we could all spread out (and still we only covered the first 3 lines or so) and actually see ourselves in the mirror. Something that hasn't happened since our group was on the 1st line back in week 3 so it was a welcome change to actually see my whole body in the mirror as I practiced.

And as I'd done the 8 a.m. class it meant I felt so much more open and was able to go deeper into the postures as a result. And Balwan is so nice it just makes you want to work harder for him. A nice way to round off my last Saturday here :-)