Warrior Four

I checked out the Yoga for Athletes class at the gym yesterday.  It was my first visit, and a new instructor to me.  Bonnie.  Evil evil Bonnie.  She seemed nice enough, but it wasn’t long before she had us squatting, and twisting, and squatting and twisting.  One leg behind the other, squat.  Hold it.  This was new yoga to me.

Actually, it was a great workout.  Bonnie (evil) took exercises that I’m familiar with and completely changed them around.  Squatting, balancing, and twisting all at the same time was really tricky for me.  But afterwards I felt really good, my legs were opened up in a different way.

Looking back, the pose was basically a modified eagle pose, including the arms.  But it really didn’t feel like that at the time.  To imagine it, cross one leg behind you, and then cross your arms like eagle, front leg and upper arm on the same side.  Then squat so that your thighs are crossed until your legs are bent to their maximum.  And stay there.  Focus on breathing.  Stay there.  We were down for about a minute…it seemed like a long time.  Now switch sides.

Possibly the most interesting thing about the class was her focus on the small things.  Working the feet to lead to the hips.  There was no pigeon.  We spent a lot of time on our toes.  Stretching and loading them.