Power Yoga Class By New Teacher

Yesterday Heeb’s class was quite a tough one (the theme being opening the chest… tons of “exploding” poses). “Exploding” triangle, “exploding” side angle etc. He had us doing 4 sets of left-right side planks variation in one of the sequence (normal, tree, top leg lifted and full pose). This was done without rest in between. We had to go from one side to the other by coming down from the side plank and then straight down into Chaturanga and then up again to the other side. When I came out of the class, I think my tee was totally wet and I was much like coming out of a hot yoga class….

Anyway today, I went for a new yoga teacher Power Yoga Class. This yoga teacher is very fit… he has a muscular physique (the waist must be smaller than mine and the rippling 6-8 packs is quite amazing -> doro observed… hehe… Guys, if you want a six packs, well then yoga is the way to go…) and an incredible yoga practice.

Since most of us in the class are new to his style of teaching, we were all quite lost when he says “Falling Stars” ( this is what I heard… ) I wondered and pondered what he meant even after he showed us that it is Chaturanga. He was soft and often his pronounciation was not very clear. Then I figured he meant “Falling Staff”… but I still could not figure out why falling… only after the class, one of the fellow yogi mentioned “Four Limb Staff” that I realized that the yoga teacher was referring to “Four Limb Staff”… ahahaha…

Anyway his power yoga class has quite a bit of Ashtanga yoga style to it and had us doing plenty of vinyasas. Some of the tougher yoga poses he wanted us to do included jumping from downward dog to Lolasana ( wah… he did it so nicely… that’s the power of 6 packs… ), jumping from downward dog to crow, jumping from downward dog to Tittibhasana and back to Chaturanga, Visvamitrasana ( infamous David Swenson pose on his Ashtanga book ), going to Hanumasana straight from downward dog.

He also managed to fit in poses like Warrior 1, Warrior 3, Revolved Triangle, Half Moon, Revolved Half Moon, Bound Revolved Shoulderstand, Niralamba, cresent lunge, Wheel (2 variations), balancing with one leg and the other straight back and the hands in namaste behind and chest on thighs, … Wow… come to think of it, he made us do quite a number of poses… He also tried to test our arm strength by having us go into Chaturanga and then hold and then turn to one side still in Chaturanga…. He also did an interesting twist to the Extended Side Angle (Utthita Parsvakonasana)… the bottom arm is lightly rested on the knee with hand in chin mudra instead. Quite nice! And it sure make sures that you are engaging your back leg.

Phew…

Tomorrow will be interesting day for me as I will become a videographer and take a good break from yoga… by filming the rest in the yoga class! Hehe…

Plus, a fun in the sun day at Sentosa! Woohoo… Handstands in sand at the beach perhaps?

OM~

Technorati Tags: Power Yoga, Ashtanga yoga, Lolasana, Tittibhasana, Chaturanga, Visvamitrasana, David Swenson, Utthita Parsvakonasana, chin mudra