Ritual Heat

Thursday in class, Annie came to Stockton and led us through Iyengar. I was looking forward to her visit because I have taken two classes with her at yoga nine in Ventnor and love her style of teaching. I made sure to take her 10:30am class this morning. The class was scheduled to be a "gentle yoga" class, however since it was only me and another young girl Annie gave us the option to keep it as such or go for a deeper practice. We chose the deeper practice. The class was similar to the Iyengar style she taught the day before in regards to heavy attention on form, alignment, and posture. However it went at a much faster pace with more attention to breathing and flow. I left the studio feeling completely stretched out and a little bit lighter, mentally.

When the term "Tapas" was first mentioned in class I was unsure how it could be incorporated in all styles of yoga. The term means heat so I instantly thought of Baptiste and Bikram where the room temperatures are set to 90 and 105 degrees. It was not until I started taking classes at yoga nine and in the classroom that I understand how the term was incorporated in several ways. The first form of this heat that I felt was in the holding of positions. Holding poses that my body does not naturally hold forced me to feel a fire sensation in the muscles I was using. I have to push myself to stay in that fire and embrace the sensations. As much as I want to release the position and allow my body to fall back to a more comfortable place at the time, this burn proves additional heat is not needed in order to reap all the benefits of the class.

The second place I found myself experiencing this heat was in my breathing. For some reason I really struggle with the breathing. I find myself allowing my four-count breath to slip away from me when I focus my attention more on my form. Rather than having steady breath and using that breath to guide my flow through the poses, I have to make a conscious effort to bring it back. However, when I am able to keep a steady breathing streak, I feel a strong sensation in my lungs. This strength fuels me to continue to move through my practice with solid form and flow.

I'm hoping with the progression of my yoga practice, I will find a way to combine the focus of this muscle and breathing heat. Combining them would leave to a more focused and purposeful practice.