Today was 11:30 with Sumach. Before class I got to see Dray as he had just taken Sumachs 9:30 class. I was so happy to see him, and miss taking his classes so much! I chatted Sumach up a bit before class, excitedly telling him that I will be having a visitor a few days before teacher training (Mei!! Can't wait!!). He asked if I was going to go to training too. I said, no, not this time, but I want to some day. I looked at him and something about his demeanor caused me to correct myself. I WILL go someday, actually! I said. The energy in the lobby was like a living breathing thing. I swear, Dray and Sumach must be vibrating at a higher frequency! They both have an amazing presence. I took that into class with me and felt great.
The class itself was amazing. I wish I could remember every little thing Sumach said, because he sprinkles some great tips into the dialog and I could feel myself making a ton of corrections. I was in the front row, right next to the podium. In the first forward fold he was talking directly to somebody, he starts off by saying "luv" and then coaxes and coaches that person. I could tell by his voice projection that he was looking in my general direction, so I immediately thought "who, me luv, or someone else luv? Oh crap doesn't matter, here we go!" and I started making all of the fine tuning and adjustments, getting deeper into the posture. When it was over I thought to myself, well, whoever "luv" happened to be that time, we all fixed our postures up good! He was a way of talking directly to you, yet addressing us. He does this the whole class. Addressing the collective "me" the whole time so that I find myself pushing and pushing as if I'm in the room all by myself. It was amazing! It was only the second time I've taken his class and you can bet I'm going to seek him out more before he leaves us (he and Dray are opening their own studio soon). Here's a cute one he said : "You want fans?" Moans of Yes coming from various yogis. "I'm your number one fan" he says, staying put and not turning them on. A couple of giggles, then he turns them on. Sitting here writing this I'm actually a bit sore. Lower back/hamstrings. I really pushed myself, but feel great! Less than 20 days to hit 60 and 3 doubles to do. Stay tuned.
HAH! That is a very cute line about the fans. :) And what you're describing - the way you always felt like the teacher was talking only to YOU - that is a very cool ability for a teacher to have. That intention is actually built into the dialogue. All the commands are in the singular. It's never "right ARMS stretch up", it's always "right arm stretch up." Subtle, but I think it's cool.
ReplyDeleteI'm STOKED that you talked to one of your teachers in person about the grip. Perfect. Keep picking my brain all you want, but then keep following through like that!!
Is he Aussie / Kiwi? Everyone says "luv" over there! :D
ReplyDeleteLove, love, love the dialogue. Something about talking to ONE person instead of addressing the GROUP as a whole just makes it stronger, IMHO.
So excited to meet you in person :) Told my mum that I'll be staying with someone [whom I met off the net] and she was visibly mortified. Haha!
J~ your post of all the awesome teacher one liners inspired me to make sure and record Sumachs cuteness about the fans! That was an awesome post, the comments were soooo funny! Loved the studio by the graveyard, where the teacher said "if you die we'll just throw you over the fence" I about fell out of my chair laughing when I read that! Great stuff!
ReplyDeleteMei~ Right, I tried to convince somebody that we know we are both "real people" because we are facebook friends. The person said "well that's still the internet". Tee hee! And yes, the dialog is cool how it addresses the group as one person. I love it! Speaking of dialog, I'll let you practice on me when you get here. It will be good for both of us!