Monday, November 19, 2012

The program begins....

Saturday November 10th - a 90 minute drive brings me all the way to Bruges - a trip I will do at least 9 more times in the coming year.

The yoga room is light and spatious, in an old building with wooden floors. I'm not the first to arrive (normally I am the first to arrive as I rather be too soon than a bit too late). Some people seem to have taken their usual spot in the room with their yoga mat. They probably have been here more often...

I'm happy to see that the group is mixed - in most cases, men are a minority.... why would that be?  - hold that thought - I have a theory... but later...

Since it is the first lesson, the introduction round is a given. Most yogi are from Bruges, there is one from Brussels, one from Antwerp and one from Hasselt, a 2 hour drive from Bruges.... respect!
And off course, part of the introduction is how long you have been doing yoga. I remember in Holland, where I did the 2 weekends, people liked to show off experience  - Belgians are more down to earth in that respect.... I hear 14 years (and already followed a different teacher training), 4 years, 10 years, 7 years .... but also 1 year and a few months. My 2 weekends and some bending-over-my-books-at-home-from-time-to-time makes me by far the leasts experienced of the bunch - but I look at it on the bright side - no previous experience with a certain style means no boundaries (right?).

The 5 hour lessons will always consist of a bit of theory (at least the first 4 lessons), the complete yoga flow (3 sun salutations + variants and 32 postures + mindfullness exercise to end) and then looking at a part of the flow in more depth, including how to teach and how to correct postures.

The first theoretic lesson is about the holistic yoga anatomy - the different bodies (huh?) from the human being.
There's the physical body - my cup of tea - but also the energetic body - I can see that - the emotional body - so far so good. When we move onto the spiritual body, the body of blessedness and the "self" I start to struggle. No need to throw in the rebirth and the afterlife.... you've already lost me. For the first time I wonder - what am I doing here....

I don't believe in life after death - I think it is a great concept that comforts people in the worst moments, but that is how far it goes for me. And for things that are not scientifically proven, I have to experience them before I believe them.... so, I decide to take a step out of my comfort zone (being the pure physical aspect, the body I can see and touch) and to open up to the energetic body part of the theory - the objective of the physical postures of yoga is to open up the energy current in the body and get energy flowing freely. I think I can handle that..... Good for me!

Tomorrow - part 2 of the first lesson

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