namasteph yoga blog

You’d think that someone as famous and respected as Shiva Rea would get keys to the yoga center (Exhale) where she performs her teacher training. But no, they rely on a probably low-paid employee to do that, and for the second day in a row, that employee overslept. On Friday, we had to wait a half-hour, and our 6:30 am class started at 7. Yesterday, we had actually planned to start the class 1/2 hour late. So we were all there at 7 am, and locked out.

Shiva handled this with grace and led everyone into some chanting to the morning sun. A regular yoga class showed up at 7 am as well, and they couldn’t get into the building either. (The teacher did not have the key.) So they were forced to go down to the beach for their class. At 7:30 am it was now an hour past our scheduled starting time, and still no employee. It wasn’t until 7:45 am that we were finally able to enter the building.

I honestly wasn’t upset because this meant we didn’t have to go through a few hours of grueling yoga practice in the morning, when we were already scheduled to take Shiva’s open class after our last session of the day. Still, this was exceptionally unprofessional of Exhale, which is a yoga studio chain. Would it kill them to give Shiva a key? What do they think she’s going to do, secretly steal her own clothing line from their boutique? Gimme a break.

Later, they gave us some gift certificates to ease the pain, not that most people will be able to use them since they aren’t local. They also gave us a 15% discount in the store - how’s that for turning a major screw up into an opportunity for them to make more money by encouraging product sales?

But enough of that. Onto the training.

I felt surprisingly good. Behold the power of pacing yourself: Because I had not pushed myself on Friday, and I took it easy during the yoga practice, my arms actually felt much better on day three. I also had a good amount of energy. Everyone around me, it seemed, was complaining of being “totally exhausted” as well as achy.

In our morning practice, Shiva gave us some straps and had us work on some deep shoulder openers with back bends. I got a great adjustment and - wow - my shoulders opened up more than they ever have in my life. I felt so much lighter I almost cried afterwards. This is what I’m interested in - yoga as a means of releasing all that tight stuff and old emotion in the body. Hurrah.

The teaching assistants are all terrific teachers in their own right, and they once again did a great job leading us through the teaching lab. If anyone ever poo-poos a large training like this because teaching assistants are used, they shouldn’t.

These assistants are in some ways more approachable than Shiva, not because she not nice or friendly, but because she has that aura of fame and almost guru status about her. I sense - though I could be wrong - that people are a bit more comfortable showing their warts to the assistants and I guess I feel a little bit that way too…and I’m not a person who gets intimidated. It’s just that you feel you are more on a…not a peer level, but…well, maybe you know what I mean.

The afternoon session involved working on how to create a mini-vinyasa within a pose. We broke up into smaller groups to work on some posture and then find ways to include movement with this. This was a bit of a mess in my group. I had studied the manual the night before and was prepared and understood the information. It was clear that a few people in the group had no clue what was going on, and worse, one was particularly overbearing and wasn’t interested in listening to those of us who did grasp things. We were lucky that a teaching assistant came by who had the authority to explain things. And there were a few in the group who were exceptionally insightful and helpful. Somehow we got it together and were able to do our demonstration for the entire class, which went off without a hitch.

After that, we had the open class with Shiva and the regular people who take classes at the yoga center. Our mats were so close together we were putting our heads literally into people’s behinds as we were doing some postures. The class was nice, though a little too speedy for me personally in places. (But then again, I prefer a slower flow.) We had the longest and most wonderful shivasana ever as Shiva actually went into the bathroom to shower for an evening engagement she had. How on earth does that woman have so much abundant energy? She’s amazing.

With that, I am getting ready for the final session today. We will also be taking a field trip to the Agape Spiritual Center. Fun!