2/19/11

This was my second saturday, and it was a super windy day outside. I was happy because I was able to get out of work in time to stop at home first and wash my feet. The past few times I had been real self-conscious about my smelly feet, because my overnight job is labor intensive, so I'm on my feet all night sweating. The previous saturday my feet didn't smell very good and I was worried someone might notice. Plus I'm not a big fan of my own feet.

Despite the windy weather it was another crowded day in the studio, saturday definitely draws in more people. (Everyone is off from work and class starts later on saturdays than during the week.) It was another day where I felt quite exhausted from work.

Another interesting thing that happened was my cousin Emma showed up to class, she was surprised to see me.

Noticing many of the same people there that I had seen on the previous saturday and also some people that I had seen on Sundays, I tried to take notice of any rituals that they might perform each time they go. I noticed everyone likes to bring with them the same apparatus each time. Some people like to have 2 blocks, some like to have a blanket, some like to have a bolster or a wedge, some like to use 2 mats for extra cushion, and some like to do any combination of the afore mentioned, and they grab these same things every time when they go in. I also noticed that everyone seems to have a preference as to where they are set up in the studio. I know personally i like to be set up against the right wall when facing the teacher. I also like to be in the front row.

Something I forgot to mention about the previous saturday, one of the moves we did was with a strap, where we put the strap behind our heads and on our foot, and put our foot into the air. I think it is noteworthy because it was the first time I had used a strap in class.

This time class was a vinyasa sequence, with a concentration on core, so a lot of the exercises towards the end were core oriented. Something I noticed is that vinyasa seems to have the same sequence of moves in the beginning, (forward bend, upward dog, downward dog, all the warriors, etc.) so the first 45 minutes usually consists of this, and the last 30 minutes is where the variation comes in. I do like vinyasa though, because you are consistently moving, and because there is a variation at the end to keep each time you go interesting. I also specifically enjoyed this class because it worked my abs quite a bit, and being a gym guy I liked that.

This time at the end I was able to stay awake during shavasana, so I paid attention to see if she read a passage from a book. I also, peeked to see if she was holding a book in her hands, she was, but she didn't end up reading any passages from it.

Something else I took note of was the music she played, it seems teachers have specific preference when it comes to CDs, Alice used the same CD both times I went on sunday, and Jenn used a different CD than Alice, but the same one both times. I'm not sure if the choice is based off of melody and rythym to match the specific practices or if it is solely their personal preference. Another thing i wanted to mention was Alice was in the class as well as a student.