Yoga in Bowral

@Bowral Yoga Studio                    10.00 – General Yoga with Kate     

Did yoga in Bowral with the legendary Kate Pell (who used to work at The Yoga Den, West End, my old hood and occasional haunt. What a small world?! Especially now that she's teaching about 1000km away and I happen to go to her class!)

Her studio is on an intersection in the centre of Bowral, on Level 1 away from the hustle and bustle of the street below.   Instantly, there is a lovely atmosphere once you reomver your shoes and step inside. It  It has a neat little reception, lovely soft lighting and big airy windows surrounding the whole corner of the studio. Carpet too! I love carpet.  I've had many a discussion with other yogis about carpet vs wooden flooring. Wow, us yogis really do live life on the edge. But, especially as today, being minus 3 degrees Celsius and all, carpet was a luxury.  Oh and the coolest thing when I walked in was that Neil Diamond was playing over the speakers! Legend!  I am such a fan of all types of music, so it was refreshing to hear something different and unexpected.  Of course, she changed it to “normal” yoga type music once class began.  I did also like that she had speakers set up around the room, instead of just a little music player.  It really made the experience that much more enveloping.  Oh and at the end for Savasana, she played this amazing Kirtan version of Om Shanti which I’m still kicking myself that I didn’t get the artist’s name.  It was truly mesmerising.  I’ll get it next time.

Oh Autumn. What beauty!

Anyway, Kate is clearly a pro. She jumped straight into class with confidence and vigour.  I think a yoga teacher who instils confidence straight away gives you piece of mind that you are going to have a safe practise. I actually don’t remember many of the sequences, because she was so particular in all of her instructions that I was just caught up in everything.  Her instructions and verbal corrections were so precise that I just couldn't imagine actually ever becoming a teacher as good as her.  Perhaps I need to look elsewhere for job #57?  I also wanted to do really well for her, so was just concentrating on trying to do everything perfectly.  Again, a trait common in yoga students and soooooo Rajasic! I am so rajas right now.

What I can remember is that she scaffolded everything brilliantly.  She began with the easier or option 1 versions and ensured that every student did these. I have definitely gotten into the habit of just waiting for the stronger options, so it was nice to get back to the simple, yet somehow more effective versions.  She then increased the strength so that we built up to each pose. She said the aim of today’s class was leading up to Salamba Sarvangasana (Shoulder stand), so it was quite clear that every single movement, pose and transition was leading up to this quite advanced inversion.  Genius.

Bowral is well-known for the Tulip Festival in September.

Oh, one last thing.  I really liked that Kate used pretty much all the Sanskrit names for things, rather than the English names.  She even shortened Virabadrasana II (Warrior 2) to Vira II.  I assume she has structured her Beginner classes around these original names because everyone easily went into the poses, without that whole looking around to see what everyone else is doing thing.  I actually still do that in classes after all these years! I have zero confidence in my ability.

Sequence:

• Paschimottanasana          Seated forward bend 
• Purvottanasana                 Upward plank pose
• Salamba Sarvangasana    Shoulder stand (with chair) 

We did all of these poses 3 times, building up to a stronger, deeper pose each time.  In Seated Paschimottanasana,we partnered up and our partners pulled our hands/arm towards them to really stretch out our backs. Great!  In Purvottanasana, we did it on blocks for the first couple of times, then on the floor for the final time. In between these poses, we concentrated on our wrists, doing flexion and extension  exercise in between.  Kate used wonderful analogies like pretend you're squeezing out a damp cloth (great visualising!) and spiderman hands, taking the fingers and thumb at the knuckles and bend them to the back of the wrist. Finally, we then had to start with all finger tips touching and flick them out as hard as we could. Such a neglected part of our body these smaller muscle groups so I really felt it the next day! Finally, we made our way up to the grand finale, Salamba Sarvangasana, using a chair. The first time EVER, I've used a chair as a prop. It was brilliant. 

(NOTE: Am trying to figure out a better way to set out my sequences for ease of reading and appeal for both new teachers and students. Any suggestions would be appreciated.  Are bullet points too "assignmenty"?! This message is for my fans. All two of you.)

Quote:

 “Your inhale breath is unique, your exhale breath is unique, this moment is unique. No other moment in your life will ever be exactly the same as this moment. Stay in the moment.” - Kate Pell, Bowral Yoga Studio.

Amazing porridge and skinny latte in a bowl!

Coffee: Elephant Boy Cafe, Bong Bong St, Bowral which is one of my all time favourite places, mainly because they have, wait for it, LATTE IN A BOWL! Weeeeeeeee! (Oh and also, amazing porridge which they served to me even after I missed the breakfast menu)