Distance: 4 + 4 blocks - teaching yoga class in between
I teach one of my yoga classes on Saturdays from 11:30 to 1. It's a great, fun, high energy class largely attended by people who have been working all week and want/need to move rhythmically, fluidly and with some vigor to re-energize, burn off 'stuff', come back to themselves. It's challenging to keep these students growing their practices, taking care of themselves and still having fun, and I love teaching the class.
Mornings are free, and I usually kind of laze through them, phasing in, conceiving the class, doing some routines to both loosen up and check out that the sequences help students access what I'm trying to communicate. (Eg, today's class was about foundation and foundation is about alive feet and legs so we started in standing mountain pose to bring mind and lower body together).
By the end of the class it is my goal to have released and opened all parts of each student's body in an enjoyable way so they leave energized and in a new present.
I feel great by the end as well; teaching is 100% interactive energetically. Sometimes I spend some time catching up with student/friends, but each Saturday there eventually comes a time to address the business of what to do next with my day. Every week there is the unspoken question: what is Saturday?
Errand day for most of the world and I'm usually extremely grateful that I have other days free for my errands and don't have to compete for parking spaces, places in line or just generally handle the crowded Saturday energy. In the same way I'm glad to have weekdays free for my recreation - for hikes in Marin or City walks - because the roads, bridges and trails are more filled, and there can be less peace in the air. Saturday can also be about college football games which I actually enjoy on years I have a team I begin following - usually more toward the end of the season when the championships and bowls start approaching and the games are televised later in the day. Until then, many of the games are played in the morning/yoga teaching time and often not televised. This year 'my' team was Michigan State - thanks to one of my students - and So worth it as several of their games were the most exciting and memorable I've ever watched.
You might ask just how many a woman has actually watched, and my answer would be A Lot. I was my father's 'football buddy' growing up, and when not actually going to a Minnesota Gophers game at the U, watched multiple games on both Saturday and Sunday. I Loved it then, and continue to do so with things made so much better with reruns so you don't have to worry about blinking and missing a play. I knew the names, numbers, some stats of many of the players as well as the team coaches. The 'Golden Era' (Montana, Clark, Rice, Lott, etc) of the 49ers will probably be the subject of at least one of my blogs.
What else is Saturday - the day? Housecleaning and laundry fit with errands, some go to (sports) bars, it can be a pretty good airplane travel day as much of that is usually done during the week so there can be fewer people at airports and on planes. I say this advisedly as I hardly ever fly and by now there may be no days at all when crowds are thinner.
If you have any kind of evening event, Saturday is the time for preparations: set the table, put the roast in, make hors d'oeuvres, have your hair done, polish your nails or shoes - those kinds of things. Or maybe you help a friend or child in their preparations. There are also sad 'errands' on Saturdays - rest home, hospital, even prison visits.
For the most part, it is a funny day to be dropped into the middle of. Being a total movie buff, a great solution for me is a matinee - preferably one in my neighborhood where there is an abundance of venues: the Vogue mentioned in an earlier blog (Day 2, 1//12), the Clay, the Bridge, Sundance Kabuki are all easily accessible from my yoga studio. (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/movies/listings/theatershowtimes?county=San+Francisco) A 1:30-2:00 matinee at one of these is ideal. If a really good movie is playing, that is my ideal post-yoga Saturday. Gets done just as the afternoon is beginning to turn to early evening, and I can walk home leisurely doing errands, picking up things for dinner. Often when I get home I'll go to the Rotten Tomatoes website and compare my thoughts with the reviews there. (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/)
Then at some point it is Saturday Night! The ever famous Saturday Night: One More Saturday Night (Grateful Dead http://www.lyricsfreak.com/g/grateful+dead/one+more+saturday+night_20062449.html), Saturday Night Lights (NBC then Directv), Saturday Night Live (NBC), Saturday Night Fever, Concerts, Restaurants, or quiet videos on tv or dinners by the fire with friends, family, books, pets. SATURDAY NIGHT, you're on!!
No comments:
Post a Comment