A New York Yoga Experience

Maybe it was the challenge involved of getting through crowds, and dodging cabs to actually get to the yoga school. Maybe it was the heat and humidity of New York City, maybe it was the asanas, but my first class at Jivamukti Yoga School was the most challenging of my life thus far.

It was indeed intense. The teacher was a french man named Eddie, who studied directly under David Life. He has a good energy about him, and I felt I could trust his teachings and liked him right away.

The class started with Sanskrit chanting, which Eddie led with an accordion, a new experience for me, but what I gathered is standard for a Jivamukti class. This was followed by quick moving asanas, much quicker than I am used to, as a warm up. Then he began to go slower, holding the poses for ten breaths each. He covered everything from inversions so back bends. His adjustments were deliberate, yet gentle, taking me to such a deep place in the poses, I can barley explain with words. Trikonasana, or Triangle Pose is one of my more challenging poses, the adjustment he gave me there allowed me to feel light and bright in it.

The amount of sweat that poured out of me made the sweat of a Bikram Class seem like a mere glisten. I licked the salty drips off my lips, feeling clean and renewed on more than a physical level.

During meditation at the closing of class, the sound of honking and rushing of traffic coming from outside became a white noise. I sat, seeming to float over my mat, completely calm, yet totally exhilarated.

When I left I was still floating. In a daze I stepping out into the thick summer air and pulsing energy of the city. Quite a shift from the quite, cool School.

The first sound my ears absorbed was a woman shouting in anger to another woman,

“Do you want to get socked in the cunt?!” Wow, where am I? What is happening? I thought.

Here I was leaving this Holy, sacred place in the midst of the world as it can be, both mindful and unaware, beautiful and ugly, scary and safe.

I am still shaking and completely lifted, laughing and crying as I go over the experience with my husband, overwhelmed by joy and emotion and insight for both my Yoga practice and teaching.

How or why I can’t explain, but the main lesson I have learned from all of this is:

I now see how hard I am on myself as a woman, as a person and a Yogi. How much I “expect” from both myself and others, and how I could use a healthy dose of patience on every level. I saw how “tough” I have always tried to be, and how strong I expect myself, and others to be as well.

Be strong. What about being soft in a tough world? I know in my mind that God is my strength. I feel I need to bring that knowledge to my forebrain more, what will come of that, I can only observe and continue to learn.

If you are interested in learning what Jivamukti is see: www.jivamuktiyoga.com