Palisade Park, Montclair, and NYC Upper East Side

I have been able to go to Palisades Park Bikram pretty consistently the last few weeks and am even more impressed with this studio. I have had class again with Eune and with Aldred Gonzales who is also very good. Aldred has so much energy he gives to those of us struggling on the mat, it is really a great thing to experience. Eune is so good at seeing where you are struggling or potentially doing a pose a bit wrong and fixing it, she knows her asanas inside and out. I will be going again today and I have to say that one of the things I liked the best is the size of their lobby and dressing rooms, so comfortable to not be squished after a class while you decompress and shower!

I went to a class at Be-Evolution Yoga last Tuesday. I had to go out near there to buy fabric for a project for work and so it was easier to go there than try to make a Palisades class. Dar the teacher was certified in 1976! She has a intuitive knowledge of the class and how to keep the students trying their best for 90 minutes. She has a website:http://www.certifiedbikramyogateacher.com/ and also teaches a Yin Yoga Aromatherapy seminar that I was going to get to but my schedule just does not fit it in. The Yin Yoga has some awesome meditation from what I have read and if you have read Bikram's book, you know how important that mental time is for you. And while Bikram states that American's don't stand much chance at developing a good meditation practice, this Yin Yoga is a great place to start. And as someone who spends a lot of time in stinky hotel rooms, the aromatherapy part was very intriguing!

There were a couple things about Evolution yoga that I wasn't fond of. The studio has more of a sweat smell than some and the dressing rooms were very small. Other than that, they have a great lobby and lots of reading material and lending library for yoga and healthy living.

And so I come to my excursion to NYC yesterday. I really do not care for the city at all. Maybe if the gazillion tourists weren't milling about taking up so much sidewalk that a person often has to walk in the street to pass a group? Or can I just call out the many people with strollers who were pushing one handed so the stroller took up its own lane? I mean, come on, look around you and SEE that you are wasting SPACE with that stroller, let alone not protecting it with your body. Ok, I am calm now, kind of....

So I put together a day that included seeing wonderful old friends at their theaters and doing yoga with the BEST, did I say ABSOLUTE BEST Bikram teacher I have ever had.

Had to go change my laundry around so let me repeat, Jena Blackwood is the best Bikram I have ever had which says a lot because I have met some amazing teachers in the last few years. Maybe because she has a Photographer's eye, maybe because she goes to teacher training often and teaches a ton of classes a week, whatever gives her the ability to tell people things in a manner which they can comprehend during a sweaty 90 minute class, it makes her invaluable.

I had accidently thoughtlessly ingested a Venti Green Tea with one of my friends a few hours before class and my standing series left a LOT to be desired. Jena still found something to compliment and a few things to give me for future improvement. I like to listen to all the slight corrections she makes and try them and see if they apply to me as well. She also has an energy like Aldred's that pervades the room and helps everyone try harder. It is kind of like we are trying harder to please the teacher but in trying harder we are really pleasing ourselves.

So for today's class, what I remember from yesterday, which might not be everything Jena said since I was having heart pounding dizziness during the standing series:

Standing Head to Knee pose, try to bring foot to hands instead of hunching and going so rounded and far down to foot.

Fixed Firm pose, try to keep knees closer together in the first set when my right knee usually aches. This will help the constriction and make the second pose even better. I had my knees about 8-10 inches apart to be able to go all the way down to the floor with my shoulders, this way, I will probably not immediately be able to go all the way down but as I progress, perhaps?

Rabbit Pose, Instead of going down and inching my knees forward, I have enough bend to aim for my thighs with my head and then guide my head down to the ground then curl my hips up.

Amazing what her hints do, and I don't want to discount any other teachers, recently Yuen has also given me some great tips.

SO, if you see Jena Blackwood on a teaching schedule GO TO HER CLASS!!! BUT, any class, any time, can help you fix your body and fix your brain!!

A toast to all who keep going to class! My friend Paul with the broken feet is still going and so is Ashley, my boss's wife, who is progressing amazingly fast!