It's an Exploration, in Yoga

Following on from yesterday, I decided to stay with the Get Fit and Healthy programme, with class two.* This was a 30-minute ladder flow with quick transitions from one end of the mat to the other. It also included some my favourite postures - skandasana and wild thing. Like yesterday, it still felt strange to go fast in one of Esther’s class as I’m so used to going slow!

In fact these last two classes have really got me thinking about speed and tempo in class - and how to control it whether you’re a student or the teacher.

I found with today’s ladder flow, once I knew what was coming it felt nice to be able to switch off a little and get lost in the flow (even if I did go to a few wrong places on the way), but it also that meant that I let myself move faster. At some points, I really had to make myself slow down to be present in the pose and then move on.

As a teacher, too, it can sometimes be easy to let the flow carry you away if you’re not careful and you become too fast for the people in front of you. You start to notice people losing their alignment and realise it’s because they’re trying to keep up.

But there are also times when you have to encourage students to slow down. If they think they know what’s coming next, or if it’s a pose they’ve done a hundred times before (I often see this in vinyasas - people drop through plank or don’t reach in a cobra), and it’s easy to for them to flow on through. After this practice, I went to teach two Reformer classes, and I could see when students start to speed up and lose the precision of each the movement.

I was talking to another teacher at the weekend, and she spoke about the importance of leadership when teaching and it’s interesting to think of it like that. We have to learn to lead and be ok with being in that role.

Let me know what you think and thank you for reading so far! I hope you have a great day.

*Hi I’m Lucy and I’m currently completing 100 days of Yoga - not a challenge, but a re-discovering and re-igniting my practice. I’ve decided to practice with Esther Ekhart on the YogaEasy platform. Choosing the practices that feel meaningful to me on the day, and sharing my thoughts and what I’m learning along the way. Find out more here.