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| My teacher is having a free practice session this weekend. It's 3 hours total, but we can come and go when we like. She will be doing her own practice and may or may not advise/ help us with ours. We may, however, watch her or others who will be there. I think she'd rather we not interrupt her practice, but if we need help we may ask others (or she may just offer.)
This is new to me and I think I may feel a little strange; practicing with her there but she won't be giving instruction for the most part. But I do plan on going; maybe for about two hours or so (hope I can fill the time- my practice at home is usually much shorter.)
This is interesting and I'm wondering if it's a tradition. I think she said one time that Mr. Iyengar used to do this occasionally but I may have misunderstood or be mis-remembering.
Oh, and there will only be 6 of us there, tops. I'm thinking she doesn't want a lot of exteranneous activity/ conversation. |
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| I have been told by my teacher that Iyengar once practiced with him without uttering a word between them. It must be kept in mind that he studied with Iyengar from the time he was 7 so there was a very solid relationship. In fact, it is possible he studied with Iyengar before his birth as his mother was unable to conceive until working with Iyengar, thus his birth.
To me it is a great honor. We've done it one time with our teacher and it was lovely, other than the challenge of 47 urdhva dhanurasanas. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| Open practice time with a teacher available is really nice, though many people seem to be intimidated by it. It does feel weird at first, but you just get going on your own sequence and it gets easier. In Pune (the Iyengar institute there ) they have open practice time daily and everyone goes to do their asana practice at that time. BKS is there regularly still, and students come back with wonderful stories of seeing his practice, of practicing on their own not realizing he was right beside them as he can be very, very quiet, and of times when he sees something that interests him and starts an ad lib teaching session. All very cool.
For yourself, karmann, I suggest you find out for sure if your teacher minds being interrupted. My teacher actually loves it when we ask for an assist on something and the whole practice turns into "yoga playtime" where we try different things and learn from each other. It sounds like your teacher may be expecting it to be a little quieter, but it would be good to know if it is ok to ask for a spotter or if you can ask that question that you have been forgetting to ask in class. Try to not to be self conscious and just enjoy it!  |
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| 3 hours! ??? |
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| i love the idea of open practice sessions.
its nice for people who might not have a full compliment of props at their home (rope walls, setu bandha benches, etc...), and its a great place for bouncing ideas off other people.
home practice can leave me feeling slightly isolated from the yoga community around me (non-existant to this point), it'd be nice to see how other people are practicing, sequencing, using props, everything!
or if you need a little assist...
i think you're right on, Karmann, that she probably doesn't want her practice disturbed, but just to observe can be inspiring.
Neel-3 hours isn't that long...
Purna-47 urdhva dhanurasanas press up or drop back?
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| Oh I see. I misunderstood. I thought you Karmann meant they were following their teacher along his/her practice but without formal instruction. I didn't realize it was an open gym.
Andrew, I believe the answer to your inquiry is "from the floor up into the pose" for urdhva dhanurasana. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| Neel - 3 hours allows people to come and go within that time. So some might want to just practice for one hour and they have a choice of all three hours to do that.
I don't think I have ever done a 3 hour practice on my own. Maybe 2 and a bit. But with yoga friends and some collaboration and trying things out, assisting each other, 3 hours can fly by |
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| 3 hours is around my average practice time.
it allows for lots of standing poses, inversions, either backbends or forward bends, twists and pranayama...
that's under ideal circumstances. i need to eat and sleep properly in order to sustain it.
...
so i find myself structuring my life in a way that will give me this effect...
hmm...
i suppose i'm very fortunate in a vast number of ways |
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| karmann -- sounds fabulous! I'm sure this experience will continue you to reward you as you process all that you learned and observed during those 3 hours. My Anusara teacher has a regularly scheduled weekly practice, hour and a half class, level 2, where she leads in calling out the poses as she practices them herself as well, but doesn't give that much instruction as to how to transition into the poses. Well, not for the basic ones, at least. It can be somewhat of an intimidating class, because she tends to ask a particular student a question about the pose, such as "what are the actions going on with the legs here?", and so you really need to know your loops and spirals. It's a fabulous learning opportunity for the serious student (if you don't mind being put on the spot on occasion, that is). It also tends to be a much smaller group, no more than 7 or 8 including the teacher, which lends itself to direct feedback about your poses, more so than in the average class of 15 or more. And wow, Pincha Mayurasana, that's really good! That one in particular has been challenging to me from day one, especially since I've got issues with my shoulder. In this morning's class (not Anusara), I applied all that I've been learning these past several months in the immersions, and managed to stay balanced (not touching the wall) for about 3-4 seconds, and it didn't feel labored at all. The fact that I can even kick up amazes me still! |
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| studios that offer this are really offering a tremendous service. it inspires students to develop their personal practice. it motivates and teaches students as they see their teacher and/or other students practice and it builds community.
in pune, practioners attend class daily and go in for their own practice. guruji is there daily, practicing and sometimes giving a correction/teaching.
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Practice session with teacher
