Galfromdownunder Yoga

Namaste! Today I received 6 yoga blocks and 6 blankets thanks to the kind donation by Bike Friday Customer Glenn Martin  (pictured mid-Vasisthasana on Arizona Camp 2010 ) and a kind price break by YogaDirect.com. (As I said in my last yoga post, the ex-studio mats were donated by Laughing Lotus and my training was by Joschi Yoga Institute). It's gratifying to know that a dot com with a word like "direct" in it still has some human intervention to do special things for special people. Thank you Yoga Direct. The special people I'm referring to are the seniors at the Hudson Guild Community Center where I am volunteering a weekly yoga class. So far I've done 2 classes. Abilities range from belly dancers to someone in a wheelchair. It's really making me think about what really works for different bodily limitations. A lady with problematic feet could n ot do Downdog. We did Navasana (boat poses) instead - like a Down Dog upside down - no pressure on her feet a...

"Lynette, tell them about your yoga class. LYNETTE'S GOING TO TELL YOU ABOUT YOGA!" Yehudit is gathering people around one of the giant round tables in the cavernous community dining room. Some people aren't moving, so I won't get their attention. Most are already walking out the door. There's at least two generations of a Chinese family with a translator in front of me. Someone asks if I can speak Spanish. "Sufficiente para sobrevivir," I answer. I start to describe some simple movements and talk about Ujayi or "Darth Vadar" breathing. "Slower," says Yehudit as we raise our arms above our heads. I announce that we will be doing standing yoga in my class. I catch a glimpse of a Chinese gentleman in a wheelchair just as Yehudit says, "what about people who can't stand?" "We'll be doing sitting postures as well," I say. Thus began my induction to volunteering yoga at the Hudson Guild Se...