Escaping to Yoga Island!!

Lululemon sponsored an incredible event on Governor’s Island yesterday: Escape to Yoga Island. And, lets be honest, it was serious yoga dork heaven. And I looooooooved every second of it.

With the hot sun beating down, we started the day with a fabulous class with Rima Rabbath. A puddle of sweat and some seriously awkward tan lines later, I found myself blissfully reminded of how much I adore yoga under a wide open sky. Blissful.

Given that we had an hour to kill before our session with the one and only Dharma Mittra, it seemed only appropriate we start playing around, yoga style =) The beauty of having yoga dork friends is that, when you have time to kill, they’re just as happy to geek out on tricky poses. And photograph them!

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A new “super-human trick!”

Lately I have been branching out, taking more advanced and master classes to really push my practice to new levels. One of my FAVORITE guest teachers popping up around Manhattan lately is Alanna Kaivalya. Incredible woman, incredible teacher, love love love her! I always find myself branching completely out of my comfort zone, yet somehow completely supported. 

So when I took her most recent master class (which will be available soon on her list of podcasts), I was so excited to learn something new!

After we worked ourselves into a crazy sweat, I found myself sitting with my left leg bent sideways on the floor in front of me, pulling my right calf across my chest. “Maybe this is enough for you,” she says, “or maybe you bring your arm through so your knee is over your shoulder.”

Yes clearly, that sounds plausible. Oh wait…it works.

Next, we planted our right hand on the floor and grabbed our right foot with our left hand. And as I watched in amazement, Alanna straightened her leg and twisted her body underneath so her gaze was up to the left. Kinda like this but with the bottom arm on the ground:

Ok I know I’m flexible but that looks absurd! No way. Uh uh.

Wait. Stop. Don’t think, just do. Pull twist straighten…wait I’m DOING IT?!?! Whoa…thats like a new super-human trick! I allowed myself a minute to geek out before I recentered myself in the room.

Parivrtta Surya Yantrasana, also known as Compass Pose, is quickly becoming an a dorky addiction. Its on my list of “crazy yoga things I have accomplished.” Once I figured out its not nearly as hard as it looks, I’ve started working on getting it straighter, holding it longer, and really feeling the ways that it stretches me out. I wont lie, its a crazy hip stretch.

Because of this, I now find myself pushing more. Questioning more. Or, more importantly, keeping in mind that something that looks impossible isn’t necessarily out of reach.

For the record, I’m pretty sure this is the kind of stuff that all my guy friends assume I’m doing every time I say Im going to yoga…;)

Next challenge:

(maybe I’ll work on this one without the water first…)