i pride myself for being a long time yoga practitioner. granted that my practice hasn't always been consistent but it has been long withstanding - wouldn't you say that 26 years is a long time? i started when i was 6, thanks to the school that i went to. no matter when and how i go away from yoga, i always return. my current return has been humbling. i am now doing yoga with katerina wen. katerina is intense, to say the least. her classes are supposed to be 1.5 hours long but they run over and the one i am going to this week is 2 hours long. those are by far some of the longest yoga sessions in the yoga industry. then, there is the way in which she does ashtang yoga. not only does every pose flow from the previous one, it flows so that you do a whole set of poses on one side of the body and then do them all on the other side, without ever realizing that you switched sides. as my friend melinda describes, the flow is so natural, it is like doing martial arts. finally, there is the wickedly intense nature of the poses. twists, balances, bends, all come together in katerinas unique style to make this one of the most challenging yoga class i have ever done. the picture with this posting is one of the poses i am getting better at. one of these days, i am hoping i will have my body suspended like katerina's is.
this week, katerina is out and her teacher andrey lappa is filling in. this wasn't planned but is being offered for the dedicated group of students that follow katerina around and wouldn't want to miss a single class. i am lucky to be able to go and excited for it!
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