*We had a more unconventional class in that we started with a restorative pose (a heart opener) as a symbol of embracing and welcoming whatever emotion is there instead of fighting and rejecting it...

Continued with thunderbolt pose with a shoulder opener.

We then proceeded to have a less flowy, more intense class. 

There were less poses but more holding, and way deeper.

We did Warrior #1, Crescent, Anjaneya asana.

We did Pigeon #1 several times

We did prasarita padottanasana.

We did forearm balance, several times in a row.

We did Virasana and supta virasana.

We did Mermaid #1. Then Urdhva. 

Then Full Pigeon #1 and four people did it! Three of them for the first time ever!

We did janu and revolved janu. Then surya yantrasana twice. Again, breakthroughs in that pose.

We did shoulder stand and ended in another restorative pose.

*I kept reminding the students to find freedom in the pose through organically extending out of the focal points.

I repeated something Sally Kempton said about the rasas. She said that we are not trying to find freedom "from our emotions but rather to find freedom in our emotions." How brilliant is she?

Something to work on:

I found myself a tiny bit nervous because I usually follow more of a script (ie; sun salutes, parsvakonasana, trikonasana, etc.) and today we were doing things a little bit differently. But I really feel that it went well and the students seemed like they were into it. It was a lovely class. And it's good to change things around as a teacher!

One more thing:

Thanks also to the great Christina Sell who is a constant source of inspiration for me and one of my teachers, even though I've never formally studied with her. I get great ideas from her blog and most of the sequencing today was inspired by a class she just taught recently. I've been reading her blog religiously for a long, long time. You should all check it out!

Last thing for real:

Congratulations to my good friend Tony G. on getting Certified last weekend. He is just a loving heart and such a great teacher. 

Go Tony!