I'm in the near-middle of the week-long Yoga for Healthy Aging intensive - it's a 30-hour training, and I'll get a certification out of it. It's in Lisle. I've had to take the week off, which has thrown things into a tizzy. I got a sub to teach my classes, which was a good thing, because my brain is kinda mushy from all the stuff we're trying to cram into it.
My students are going to hate me. Well, no. They'll love what I'm learning. Just that I'm so excited about it. I bought 2 more books dealing with yoga modifications and variations.
No. Much like yarn, you can't have too many yoga books, especially with regard to those on sequencing and modifications. See, my classes are mixed level. Yogis of all levels attend, and the ages span at least two, sometimes three generations. I have to be prepared for the 20-something who's blown a knee to the 30-something who wants to get stronger, to the 70-something who can't balance. All in one class. I need modifications and I've almost given up planning sequences. You know that phrase, "You plan, God laughs"? Well, it apparently applies to yoga teachers too...
I plan a sequence on shoulders. At least one or two students come in with active shoulder issues. Pfffffffffffthhhhhh goes that sequence. I plan a class around legs. I'll get a fake hip or a fake knee. Pfffffffffffffffffffffthhhhhhhhhhh goes THAT sequence. I've gotten pretty good, if I do say so, about modifying on the fly and offering alternative poses.
Certainly tests my equanimity.
Anyway, how does this apply, you might ask, as I drag myself back to the subject. Well. The studio is a bit chilly because the weather is dreary, rainy and grey - you know: fall. So I'm wearing my hand-made socks. And I finally got it in my head to bring my knitting.
Socks, of course. At first, I brought the beginnings of the St. Charles socks - Vanilla Latte is the pattern. But I didn't want to deal with them because right now, they look like nothing.
So I grabbed the Blue Self Patterning, which are on the verge of being done, and I really want to get them on my feet soon. This picture is dated by about 2 or 3 days. I'm on the toe decrease now and everyone was ooohing and ahhhing. One person asked me if I sold these in my studio.
I suppose, if I wanted to, I could sell the "yoga socks" version (no toes, no heels - just the short-ish leg and instep). I could do that, but who'd pay for a sock with no toes and heels? And besides, it'd have to be something like $20/pair at least. The legs would be no taller than about 5" if that, because I don't want to knit that much for people who may not buy them. You don't need long yoga socks anyway. Though they could be pedicure socks. Could be S-M-L sizing. I definitely have enough sock yarn, and the trend is mis-matched socks...
In my spare time.
Garden Yoga...
Is done for the season. We were being pelted with Honey Locust leaves and it was a very brisk 67* at the last class, but it was worth it. I purchased a bush called Amethyst Beauty Berry. Hubby wasn't necessarily pleased, but it's in the northwest corner and will be gorgeous. Pink flowers in the spring and a "fountain shape" that doesn't require pruning; now, though, it's got beautiful purple berries on it. Tomorrow, if it's not pouring, I'll get a picture of it. So this tree, two weeks ago, was just turning color. Last Saturday? This was it. Bald, with very little to tell you what it looked like earlier. It's a beautiful tree - I love the trunk and the shape of it.
Fall hit sort of late and it's wet and gloomy so far. The brightest spot in the garden last week (aside from the mums and the Amethyst Beauty Berry) was my mat!
The berries are just a tad more purple than my yoga towel/travel mat thingie here. It's advertised as a "travel mat" but it's very thin. I use it over my regular mat, because, aside from the odd hot flash, when we were practicing in the hotter weather, I'd slip.
Rule #1 in teaching yoga is to be human. But Rule #2, at least in my book, is to try not to face-plant in front of your students. Seriously, you can really hurt yourself, so I got this to help keep my hands and feet sticking where they needed to stick.
It's a good idea for travel anyway, because if you do yoga somewhere (like I did once, in a conference room), on a grungy carpet when you're not quite sure when or if it was ever cleaned? You'd like something like this under you. Let's just say that Downward Facing Dog was as close as my face got to that carpeting!
Anyway, we'll start up again next summer. I think we rushed it this spring, and the weather in spring was as odd as the weather in fall -- like Mother Nature couldn't decide. One thing Mother Nature HAS decided on was that, lately, the skies at night have been stunning. We've caught a few sunsets and sunrises (this is a sunset last Sunday at Yin class) that were pretty spectacular. She knows how to put on a show when she wants, that's for sure.
Random Picture...
I think someone let the air out of Quinn... This is the infamous "Norwegian Flat-Hound." Used to be an Elkhound when it was blown up... She does tend to really sleep when she wants to sleep. Didn't blink an eye when I took this shot. She's a patchwork puppy with all the surgeries, which is why she's still in a thunder shirt. Hubby has "diapers" (as you may be able to see) still around her neck so her collar doesn't irritate the skin till a little more fur grows back from her recent surgery. Unfortunately, she's got more cysts growing. The vet doesn't know if we'll be able to ever find out why or if they'll ever stop.
But she's a snuggle-bunny and my fierce protector-beastie. Scared of her own shadow, but heaven help you if she doesn't know you and you knock on the door! You'd swear the Hound of the Baskervilles lived here!
No comments:
Post a Comment