we are still very much in the yoga zone, workshops, classes, foundation training, we are noticing just how much better we have become just since the new year, the house is slowly being taken over by all things yoga/teacher training.. we have a new Monday class as Lisa has become manager of the fitness classes in a closer gym & teaches her Fitness Yoga, though i have to say she should really make them all take their socks off! The Ros Bell Iyengar workshop was excellent, its quite amazing the little things each teacher can show you, she was amazing, i couldnt even begin to guess how old she is but she's taught for 34 years & she looks so good on it, there aren't many Iyengar teachers at her standard, though i don't agree with some of the teaching aspects of Iyengar, its just dangerous.... I really like Sue who owns Peak, i'm really looking forward to her coming to do a British Wheel Day next month, i just want the rest of class to come too but they don't show much interest in workshops outside what we do already, maybe money is an issue for folk, its not cheap really when you add it all together.. & yes i will give in and get some tight yoga pants or maybe shorts  just for Sue as i wont be stripping to my pants again like i did for Ros so she could look at what on earth is going on with my thighs vs calves, i hyperextend my knees & stand in tadasana knock knee'd, at Becs class last week for the first time i actually stood on one leg holding my big toe with the other leg out stretched 

my life at the moment is simply Yoga & hounds.... i love how its changed my perspective on an awful lot in my life or maybe thats just age, i've found a couple of different workshops for us to attend over the next few months, i'm really keen to learn the differences between different styles, so we have booked on an Iyengar weekend & hope to start Ashtanga in a regular class, its so limited here, its all just Hatha teachers =/ & i also found a thursday night Tai Chi class i'd like us to start, i'm back on the vitamins/minerals, fish oil, collagen & gluco/chron i do wonder if its placebo or they do have some benefits as i do generally feel better on them than off, i don't think the deep hidden vegan within me will ever appear... though never say never....  i turn my nose up at some of the cleansing practises now but in time maybe i could bring myself to consider Kunjal (stomach wash) or Dhauti (Food Pipe Cleansing)  after all the Neti does work wonders..  

i have noticed Senior Yoga teachers have the strangest feet.. we had a teacher called Richard Agar Ward at a 3 hour workshop on saturday, our first insight to the pure Iyengar style, i love new teachers, i really believe each one offers something regardless of style but the Seniors really are something to look up & inspire to... after so much Trikonasana on saturday & feet breaking.... which as soon as my extra blocks arrive i will be doing on a daily basis, toe stretchers clearly don't work, its always usefull to let a teacher know your injured, in many places for me, i learnt some really usefull techniques if they work who knows, i understand the headstand more too now...  i'm glad sunday was a day on back bending.. but i'm really looking forward to the Ros Bell workshop & yet another Iyengar full day in May.. 

yet again i have muscle strain, this time in my right thigh grrr this is my stronger leg & its really impacting on the left.. i really do need to sort out my imbalances but i just keep injuring myself =/

so i meant to blog about my feet.. since Gillian mentioned my toes not being straight, its driving me to distraction... though its nothing serious, it will be interesting to see if i can move my toe positions using several devices, Dr Strelley didn't really think my phalanges were bad enough to justify any kind of drastic treatment & i so agree with her.. so i have these squishy things to wear inbetween my first 2 toes & a pair of guards to wear just in the day to cushion the joint..  & a contraption to wear at night that has the potential to hurt =/  feet really aren't pretty....  & i do think my little toes are more out than the rest

we did a full Yin Yoga class last night, i'm not keen on Yin but i have to say i slept through & my hip is ok today

Back to yet another full yoga day next sunday.. i have all this great incentive to excell out of a class but when it comes to it its a half hearted effort, as its the 1st tomorrow maybe i should try a little harder....

So... this is where i take yoga really seriously .. huh.. what i do isn't enough, though i think 3 years at least twice a week is 'quite' seriously.. sunday was a very long day & we were told to keep a personal development journal..

so heres the yoga bit... i already kind of knew i have over developed calves & under developed quads & a weak belt around my lower back/stomach thats not to say i'm not strong, i am but only in my legs, i'm in imbalance, i'm not strong in my upper as i don't lift weights & my quads are weak as i don't power squat/lunge or even walk up many steps, i barely ride my bike, weather obviously & aside from hound walking miles on end & yoga i need to balance it with something else... weights/lunges/squats/abdominals but i really dont want to cause my body any stress so i intend to be sensible...  thats hard for me... thats aside sunday's morning session was basic postures but totally broken down, i do now feel my strength is coming from my calves & not my quads, the seated poses i found interesting & i've never actually sat on a rolled up blanket, makes all the difference in the world, my right hip doesn't like me to sit in one seated position for long & its not that i don't have the flexibility to get into the positions, i can do half lotus very comfortbaly, Vajrasana is where you sit on your heels, Sukhansana simple crossed leg, Siddhasana (acomplished pose) is something i've never sat in before, the cat (Marjaryasana) leading with the crown is also something i've not done before.. i always thought Tadasana/Samasthiti was the same Mountain Pose/ Equal Standing but i do see how it could cause confusion in a class, it is the same but your heels touch & you feel ready to move in Samasthiti.. i really need to start reading my books..

yoga... well the snow cancelled the two events for Sat 27th & then the 4th, we've missed 2 sundays & a wednesday, not quite sure if the pilates i did has made me pull my rectus fem & the adductors or walking in the snow for miles, probably both, so still house confined till tomorrow probably, i don't know how i manage to damage myself on such levels, though i do tend to agree my hams are far far more powerful than my quads so creates muscle imbalance

i could do with one of those little snoopy icons that does a little dance.... Lauren.. What is Prana? i best get my books out, we got confirmation of acceptance for the Foundation Course, its funny as years ago when i started the Excercise Diploma all i wanted to do was be a Yoga teacher & i remember being with Angie up at Brampton Manor & her telling me it would cost thousands, she wasn't wrong but i never thought i'd actually do it, well we'll see by next October i guess if we go onto year 2, at least this block is just under £500 each, i love the way Gillian teachers, her anatomic knowledge is by far the best i've come across in a yoga teacher, already in 2 lessons she's corrected my positions a few times & made so much sense especially with the turning of the pelvis in bends............. during last nights yoga a burst of California Dreaming with piano came from upstairs, i could not help but giggle, there is one woman up there, i have created my image for her, she is so loud & she has a filthy laugh, it sounds like they chase her round the room or something... 

he new yoga class is interesting, Gillian is so calm, it makes such a wonderful change, in the room above us it has Quakers, i think i need to go take a look at that
.. i could never subscribe to the priciple of Jivamukti as i could never be Vegan, i have huge respect for Vegans, if i could subscribe to the food of the Vegan & still eat good quality animal, then that would work 
i did enjoy the Jivamukti as its Vinyasa and pretty intense though i'm not so into the chanting & the afternoon sessions of meditating & restorative would have been so much better if i'd taken a bolster, i have since bought us some, we have applied to take the Foundation Training in Yoga with British Wheel & have also subscribed to a few more full day/half day workshops for saturdays & some sundays but after Christmas if we get on the course 1 sunday out of 4 for 6 hours we will spend with Gillian along with our new Wednesday night class with her

Becky has returned to teaching, i'm yet to see her, so very sadly she lost her baby, we were to leave the Healthy Living Centre this month too as we lost our 2 new teachers Lisa & Katy in the last few weeks so the only teacher left was Rach... so we are still contemplating this one now