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Yoga.
I never did tell you about the last
class of the Yoga session, did I? It was possibly the most fun I have ever had
teaching, and more importantly, the class loved it. I think I made them nervous
at first, because during the previous class I assigned them homework. It was
fairly low-stress homework, though. Each student had to bring their most
challenging and their favorite pose or type of pose to
class.
This, of course,
released me from the obligation to do a lot of planning. Usually I put together
a class with a certain focus, getting a mix of the various types of poses, yet
highlighting a certain type of pose (backbends, twists, balancing, etc.).
Pre-planning gives me the time and space to think about proper sequencing and
ensuring that no one type of pose gets overdone. However, knowing my class as I
did, I figured that everyone would come in with a good mix of things that they
liked or didn't like. I even expected (but didn't get, interestingly enough)
for someone's most loved to overlap as someone else's most
challenging.
All of my
students surprised me, but none more than T. Her favorite was balancing - her
least favorite was relaxation. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, as
she's fairly intense and focused. C surprised me not at all with her favorite,
which was warrior poses, but her challenge was transitions between poses in sun
salutation.
These and the
other students' homework got spun into a class that combined comfort with
challenge and worked incredibly specific details, all ending up with a long and
varied period of restorative poses. By the end, when everyone sat up, I was
surrounded by flushed, smiling, relaxed
faces.
It was thrilling. I
think I have started a tradition in my own teaching.
Posted: Thursday - March 24, 2005 at 07:24 AM
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