Day 2 started with a warm up class with Beth Shaw, founder of YogaFit. I've been looking forward to this conference for many reasons. One of them being to finally take a class from Beth. She started her business in the mid 90's peddling it out of the trunk of her car, and is now the head of the largest yoga training method in the world. Pretty amazing. She was a marketing major in college and it shows. Class with her this morning was beyond inspirational. She oozes peace, love, and joy from her very being. She just got back from India and shared with us some fun techniques. My favorite one being her flying bird flow that ended with you giving yourself a hug.
After an hour with Beth it was time to begin the second day of level 4. We started off with another Masters class that lasted for 3 hours. Yes I did say THREE HOURS! This was probably the most challenging yoga I have ever done, yet it somehow was the most enjoyable as well. Our trainer, Brett, has an amazing style with just the right balance of intensity and relaxation that makes a really great yoga instructor. He had us doing such complicated acrobatic combinations as Down Dog to Wheel and a walking Scorpion down the wall. Intense, I'm telling you. If I get a chance to practice these insane postures I might even be brave enough to post pictures by the end of the weekend.
After lunch we spent most of the afternoon talking about the Bhagavad Gita and the Yoga Sutras. Neither of which I have even begun to wrap my mind around so I won't even try to explain them yet. But I will say this, I think the Gita is becoming one of my favorite pieces of literature. The interpretation we were required to read for this training included several stories about the many lessons to be taken from the Gita. Our homework assignment last night was to read 3 of these stories and then discuss them in small groups today. I know, it sounds kind of boring. But get this, after we discussed them we got to act out one of our favorite stories. So of course my group decided to act out the one called "The drunken Boatmen." The moral of the story is that you can practice something all you want, but until you practice detachment you will never get anywhere. And I got to play the wiseguy bathing in the River Ganges who points this out to the intoxicated boatmen. This was definitely the highlight of a very long and tiring day. As far as the Yoga Sutras go, I will need to spend A LOT more time reading and re-reading it to be able to explain it to anyone. But this much I know so far: Sutra 1 shows us that yoga is about being present, and Sutra 2 shows us that yoga is about clearing the mind. Both are really important things that we all need to bring into our daily lives.
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Sounds like this training is really bringing together many aspects of yoga. It's cool you had the opportunity to take a class from the founder. Remember that if it wasn't for drunken boatmen, wise men would have no reason to share their wisdom with the world. If nothing but boats of super-serious, non-drunk boatmen passed by him while he bathed, he would have just simply enjoyed his bath and never felt a need to inform the unwise of wise things. Goes to show that everyone, even drunken boatmen have a role in the advancement of knowledge.
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