So while I was in Puerto Rico for work last week, I tacked on a weekend to visit one of my best friends from college. His wife - who I had never met - teaches yoga. So Saturday morning I went to her class (in the back room of a new age store, which was different), and then we headed somewhere else for a "yogathon" a local studio was having in honor of being open for 8 years. (A quick google search didn't turn it up and I have no idea where in San Juan I was. Whoops.)
Anyway, it was what turned out to be 3.5 hours of yoga. (We thought 2.5.) And, OMG, it was *packed*. Like, I think we got the last two spots in the whole room. We started with some sun salutations and just kept going. The teachers rotated through; there were maybe three main ones and four or five more who did a little. (When they weren't teaching, most of the teachers were circulating and adjusting and helping people - someone came by and helped me with headstand - one of my worst poses and we weren't doing it on the wall. He was saying something to me, but that was right when Michael Jackson came blasting out of the speakers (the rest of the time it was a more usual yoga playlist) and, well, my Spanish is reasonably fluent but I have a little trouble with Boricuan accents anyway and basically I have no idea what he was saying.)
Even though the building had AC, that room had the windows open. Fans were going, but it was pretty warm and humid. And I have never been so sweaty in my life - not only did I soak through my clothes but my hair (which is mid-back length) was soaked through. It was *hard*, but... totally awesome. There was a section of Budokan Yoga, and one which I wished I could go back to later - the sequence was unfamiliar and it wasn't enough time for me to figure it out, and a whole lot of vinyasa. There was a segment where we put on blindfolds and ran some stuff. (I wussed out on this and took it off pretty quick because the room was so full and I'm so big; I didn't want to whack into a bunch of people I completely didn't know.) It ended with yoga nidra, except I completely drifted off during shavasana and didn't listen to the guy. Whoops. (I was *pooped*, dude. I consider myself to be in okay shape but...wow.)
Anyway, it was new, different, and completely awesome. I would do a yogathon again in a heartbeat. And would highly recommend that studio...if I had any idea what it was.
that sounds really intense and awesome at the same time.
Posted by: valerie | 09/22/2008 at 10:14 AM