Since I had today off and I wanted to take advantage of my 40 days for $40 deal that I got at Breathe, I decided to head to a noon Anusara-Inspired yoga class. I’d never heard of Anusara before, but when I read the description, it sounded interesting.
Anusara, a system of Hatha Yoga developed and founded by John Friend, masterfully blends Universal Principles of Alignment with heart-opening, creative expression making the practice a beautiful and delightful synergy of precision and grace. Detailed verbal cues, hands-on adjustments, and demonstrations of poses with detailed explanations will be given. Each class will be infused with a heart-oriented theme, woven into the asana practice giving more potency and meaning to each pose.
Little did I realize that the class was a lot less hatha and a lot more vinyasa. Meaning lots of flowing from one pose to the next. Downward dog to Staff to Cobra to Plank to Warrior to…you get the idea. I don’t like moving from one pose to the next too quickly, which is why I love Bikram, because you hold the poses for longer periods of time.
But I was there and I decided to fight back the inner fat girl in my head who told me to leave as soon as we started all the moving from pose to pose. I got into every single pose for the first 40 minutes. Granted, I wasn’t nearly as graceful for effortless as others, and I may have modified the poses a bit, but I got into them. And then Daniella,the teacher whom I absolutely loved, told us to move toward the wall. And my intuition told me that this wasn’t going to be good.
Why oh why didn’t I listen to that feeling?
Daniella demonstrated how to get into a headstand. Yes, a HEADSTAND! WTF?! I don’t think so.
No matter how many steps she was able to take us through, from being on all fours and lengthening the body and using the four corners of our body to propel us forward, there was simply no way that I was going to be able to get my body up and put all that weight onto my poor hands.
Just not going to happen.
And as I watched people attempting the handstand, I made the decision that I’d had enough yoga for one day, and I thanked Daniella for the class and I hit the bricks.
I mean, c’mon! A handstand? Seriously?! Don’t you think they should have mentioned that as one of the “heart-opening poses” in the description?
But I am glad I stayed for the first 40 minutes. My heart rate was up and I can already feel the muscles in my thighs. MyFitnessPal says I burned 768 calories, and while I know their estimates are higher than what a HRM might read, I’m ok with the inaccuracy, at least for now. (Eventually I might want to buy a Polar F4 HRM, but that seems like a great reward item for making weight loss goals). But, I digress…
I went on Breathe’s online class signup and decided on classes for the rest of my 39 days. I’m not taking a class every single day, but I am going to get my money’s worth. Here’s what I’ve signed up for:
- Sundays: Candle Light Yin
- Tuesdays: Hot “Tapas” Yoga (“tapas” means “the discipline of steady practice which will lead to immediate internal and external benefits.” Basically, Bikram yoga).
- Thursdays: Hot Tapas Yoga
- Fridays: Restorative
- Saturday: Yoga Basics
I even signed up for Taiji and Qigong class on the last day of my 40 – Tuesday, February 21st – when I’ll be on February Break and able to take a morning class.
Learn how to maintain and increase your own vitality with this simple but profound class. Each class will integrate gentle movements that stretch and strengthen your entire body with techniques that expand your breath and balance your mind. Each morning you will have a chance to learn simple and effective routines Taiji and Qigong that energize, cleanse, and harmonize your body’s internal organs and energetic systems. Sometimes called “Chinese yoga,” Taiji and Qigong healing exercises were developed in the earliest dynasties of China and have now spread throughout the globe. This unique opportunity to practice these ancient Chinese energizing techniques is not to be missed!
I’m going to get my inner yogini on from now until February 21st, when the 40 days run out! And I decided today that if I like these classes and the teachers as much as I think I’m going to, I’ll purchase a one-month unlimited package in July, when I can go every day if I’d like. It’s $115, but there’s no commitment, and since I have so much time throughout that month to practice yoga, it will be worth it.
~Namaste~
Bella on the Beach 
I am excited to read someone else is trying Qigong. I’ve been doing Qingong and Tai Chi (separately) for about 7 months now. Qigong is about energy and moving qi and has a more healing and medical background where tai
Chi is martial arts and is quite different. Although I have only done Chen style Tai Chi so I can’t speak on the other four styles. Needless to say; I love both and think they are two great practices for anyone! Enjoy!
I tried yoga once – it’s hard – so kudos to you for doing it. Do you meditate during it?
Yoga is a challenge for me, but it’s usually doable. Handstands aren’t. 🙂
Yes, usually the beginning and the end have more meditative, centering breathing exercises. I love that part (although it’s hard for me to keep my mind “quiet.”
Omg! I can’t beleive they didn’t put that in the description! That is nuts! Lesson learned, do not attend that class again. Lol. That would have made me hightail it out of there too. I’m flexible and have an open mind but handstands are a bit much. 🙂 the rest of your classes sound really good though. So is this the yoga studio that you took pics of and was really cute?
Yes, this is that one. You’ll have to join me there sometime. I’d really like to know what you think of it. I love the decor, find that the teachers are spectacular, and like the overall vibe of the place.
Hi, Bella. I very much enjoyed reading your posting on the Anusara class. Let me also congratulate you for investing the effort to make dramatic and healthy changes in your body. I hope that you enjoy the many benefits that will accompany this!
I live in North Carolina, but occasionally travel to San Jose and Almaden. During my last visit there in November, I discovered Breathe. You are so lucky to have found this magnificent studio, which is not only beautiful but has a wonderful and diverse collection of classes and instructors. In a previous visit, I had the opportunity to take a class with Daniella. I chose to take her class because I was looking for an Anusara instructor. One of the benefits of Anusara is that you can have an expectation of a very high-quality class from an instructor who has invested many years in learning to teach yoga. I enjoyed my class with her, and was disappointed when I couldn’t take her class on my most recent visit.
I think it’s wonderful that you’re exploring all of the different offerings at Breathe under a very attractive offering! (I would love to take 40 days off work and camp out at the studio!)
I thought about your experience in the Anusara class, and wanted to share with you my perspective — both as a student and teacher of yoga. In the Anusara format, the flow portion is often done in the early part of class in an effort to get warmed up and moving around. My experience has been that you’ll do a handful of sun salutations at the beginning, but that flow will not continue throughout the class.
The really interesting part comes with the handstands! While it may feel a little awkward to not participate in each pose of the class, I promise you that it’s okay to selectively omit ANY pose in class. Teachers will generally offer an alternative pose, or you can just watch. Handstands are developed over the longer term practice, and are generally taught in stages. If you’ve never done a handstand before or worked toward handstand, then going to the wall and just doing handstand would understandably be out of reach.
As an alternate to leaving the class early, you could have passed on the handstand. You always have the choice to do as much or as little of the practice as is right for you during the class. The purpose of the practice is to serve you. Please consider sitting out a pose as a viable alternative to leaving class early, even though I respect the action that you took which was right for you at the time.
I would also recommend that you try the Yin class with Misako Matsuoka. Yin is a very interesting class where you enter postures and remain for several minutes. There are many benefits to this type of practice, although it is surprisingly challenging (in a good way!).
I hope that you don’t mind me sharing my thoughts with you. They are extending with kindness and caring! Enjoy your 40-day pass and the many adventures ahead!
Haha. I worry I would have actually laughed out loud at the handstands. I can’t imagine! Oh my! I think I may have also decided it was enough for one day… but I recognize what the person above says about just sitting it out. Just can’t imagine trying that ever!
Headstand? Seriously? Yeah, they might want to add that to the description! But seriously you did most of the class, and knew your limit. It sounds like you’ve found a wonderful place to go and one that you are comfortable at, youre doing such a wonderful thing to kick off 2012~
OMG my heart would have started pounding like crazy at the headstand situation. Anxiety attack for sure. I’m so envious that you’re doing the 40 day challenge. I hope I can participate the next time they offer it. I love that you’re trying all the different classes!
It’s been fun. So far Su’s Yoga Basics and the Tuesday night Hot Tapas Yoga are my faves.