Passport to Prana

This past weekend, I created my own Yoga Retreat in the City.  I had the ambitious goal of doing 8 classes in 3 days, to mimic somewhat what I experienced at the Wanderlust Festival in Lake Tahoe, but with the many studios in the City.  "Passport to Prana" is a great way to experience this.  You pick a city, sign up for the card, and then present it to any one of the participating studios for that city.  In my case, there are 40+ studios that are available to try.  You get to visit each studio once, with a deadline of 11/30/10 in my case.  Given that the card only cost $30, and a drop-in visit can range from $12 to $20, this is a great deal.

So, I planned my days accordingly, took a mix of classes from different studios, styles, teachers, levels, etc. just to get immersed in the many interpretations of Yoga.  Overall, it was an incredible experience.  My body was pretty good throughout, considering the pace and frequency of the workouts.  And I came out of it with an appreciation for all types of Yoga, for the teachers, the small business owners, the large corporations, etc. that are involved with the science, philosophy, business, and practice of Yoga.

On Friday, I scheduled 4 very different styles and studios.

It started at 6am with a "Mysore Style Ashtanga Yoga" class.  This is a self-paced class, where you go through the Ashtanga sequences, and a teacher supervises, gives pointers, etc. during the practice.  It was strange at first, seeing people go through independent movements, something I hadn't been exposed to before.  My teacher greeted me, knowing it was my first time in that style of class.  Even though I had practiced Yoga a lot before, she gave me a lot of "beginner" type pointers that were invaluable.  She gave me some tips, particularly in Cobra/Upward Dog that had me questioning what I've been doing these past many years in my practice, and why other teachers never corrected my form in that way.  In the end, it was cool, like a fundamentals camp, if you will.  It would be like learning defensive stance or shooting form in basketball and working on that for a whole week or so.

Next, was very different type of Yoga called "Integral Yoga".  The studio was an old Victorian Mansion, with a completely homie vibe, non commercial, and very inviting.  I met a couple of nice folks there who had gone on a retreat with that group and they both said it was great.  I ended up taking a beginner class (which was very easy for me) but I did pick up some things in there I've never seen before (including eye exercises).  The teacher was very gentle and very calm and I came out of there very peaceful and ready for more.

Next, was a "Yin Yoga" class.  I've been doing Yin for a few months now, and I dig it.  It's kind of a cross between a restorative class and a stretching class, and focuses on the connective tissues.  You hold what looks like very simple poses for an extended period of time, and while the poses look quiet and peaceful, your connectives tissues are raging and on fire.  It's a great way to open up your body, and I enjoyed that greatly.

So, after a good early morning of fundamentals, some nice easy basics, and some connective work, I went to a "Midnight Yoga" class, which was a Vinyasa Flow class with a live musician and a very groovy atmosphere.  My teacher there was just great, gorgeous in many ways (more than just physical of course), and took us through a freaking killer workout.  I know it was late and I had done 3 classes already, but I was toast after that.  2 hours of tough and creative Vinyasa flows, movements smoothly connected to poses I had really not combined that way before.  My body was in shock at first, and definitely ready for bed.

On Saturday, I chose two challenging Vinyasa Flow classes, intermediate/advanced levels.

The first was early morning and was packed to the hilt.  I knew it going in, because I took a similar class with the same teacher at Wanderlust.  It was awesome, just like in Wanderlust.  The chanting, the flows, the meditation, the energy, the peace ... all of what you want in class, it was all there.  People there were very cool, and I enjoyed it greatly.

The second was in the afternoon at a very old-school studio.  My teacher was a cheerleader, very fit and strong, and very challenging.  What was truly amazing about her was how she broke everything down step-by-step, preparation for some very hard poses.  At the end, I did a crazy arm balance (hard for me to do those because of my body type, and my wrist pain ... too much typing), and I surprised myself that I could even do that.  I learned a lot there and enjoyed it greatly.

Sunday, I chose one challenging Vinyasa Flow class, and one Beginner class.

The first was early morning, and my buddy came up to take it with me.  We've been workout partners since we were kids, and it's always nice to have one of your best friends join you, especially when you need a small push to finish off 8 classes in 3 days.  That was a tough class.  It was in a semi-heated room (not Bikram hot) but the movements were vicious.  Lots of standing balance, Warrior Three, type poses, held long.  I was sweating up a storm, and it's good I brought my YogiToes Towel with me.  I needed it.  Savasana felt great, and I really enjoyed it.  I met up with the teacher afterward, who I recognized from the Wanderlust festival.  She was so cool, had a great energy about her, and led me through a tough, but very nice workout.

The last one was at "Yoga Works," one of the more commercialized studios out there.  It felt like I was shopping at Neiman Marcus or something like that.  It was a beginner class, I took it on purpose, to complete the Vinyasa that was my weekend.  And it was great.  Lots of people in there who never took Yoga before, and it gave me an appreciation for how to teach them, and what it would take.  It's tough, I'm telling you.  It's not like basketball, which I've played and coached for 35+ years.  It's going to take me some time to ever get to that level, but I'll get there someday.  What was really cool is that I picked up some pointers, some echoed from my first class of the weekend, and some totally new.  And that's what nice about a beginning class, to remind one about the basics and fundamentals.  So often, we just go through poses and motions, and we're not building good habits, not correcting form, etc.  So you go through thinking you're doing something right, and it's totally off.  In any case, I took the benefits of this beginning practice and appreciated the lessons learned there.

Wow!  I can't believe I really did that!  It was cool!  I think I have 33 studios left on my card, and I'll likely not do 8 in 3 days, rather 1 or 2 in 1 day.  But, it was a wonderful experience, something I'm very thankful for.  Thanks so much to the studios, the teachers, the other Yogis, and especially to my family for allowing me this precious time.  Namaste.