After a long weekend of strong backbends, I launched my Level 1/2 class series, taught the second class of Summer Session Asana Junkies, began the Level 2/3 class series, all while watching the news with concern for the rising numbers of Covid-19 infections. Truth be told, Covid-19 is not the only thing I feel concern about in terms of our modern society, but the pandemic certainly highlights many of our problems.

I enjoyed teaching the shorter classes this week and am hoping that the 75-minute format will be supportive during these stressful times. I taught ongoing classes for over a decade, starting in 1998 and continuing into 2011, when keeping a full local schedule became impossible with my travel schedule. Over the years, students in workshops have asked me, “Could you come and teach a 90-minute class, like we were in a public class?”

The simple answer was “yes,” we can schedule a shorter class during a visit. The more complex answer was “no,” because ongoing classes rely on regular participation to explore the principles and practices over a long period of time. A lot can happen— more, in fact, than in a workshop— but one has to realize the rate at which the information unfolds is different. If I flew into town and taught a 90-minute class to strangers, the class would no more resemble a regular, ongoing class than the workshop does, because we would not have built a foundation of understanding together over time.

Somewhere in the 20+ years I have been teaching, a narrative has emerged asserting that breaking poses down, explaining anatomy and/or philosophy, and using demonstrations is “workshopping,” while leading people through a practice is “teaching a class.” I understand the basic idea, but, in my opinion, the premise holds an essentially false distinction. I believe it is possible to break down poses, explain important concepts, and still create a conditioning effect for the body in both public classes and workshops. I rarely chime in on this topic anymore as it holds a lot less interest for me than it used to. More than a few years back I made a choice to focus most of my energy on just doing what I do, but well, today revisiting this idea seemed relevant.

(And don’t get me wrong— I know all the yoga class horror stories of opening talks that take 15-20 minutes, classes that offer no instruction, instructions that amount to lectures with no asana in sight for much of the time, and so on. In fact, I am so picky about classes, I hardly go to them. I just I think it is possible to give information and provide a conditioning effect, not that I think it is often done well or even that most people like how I do it. But, for all the complaining that can happen in the world of yoga, no one forces us to go to classes we do not like and as far as I can tell, we all like different things, so a lot of what seems like problems out there needn’t be so super-consuming. But I digress.)

At any rate— while I was returning to my roots with a 75-minute class, I decided I would also teach using a theme.

Tuesday night I worked with the principle of chit-ananda— consciousness and activity; to know and to do; being and becoming; Shiva and Shakti. The idea I suggested is that all of the “doing” on the mat is more effective when we know where we are in space, how our bodies work, what the poses entail, etc. We attended to the foundation of poses, opened the shoulders and hips using co-contraction of opposing muscle groups and moved through a variety of postures to provide a simple, well-rounded asana practice. Nothing fancy.

Thursday night I used niralamba as a theme, exploring support in three primary ways in practice: 1.) loving awareness, 2.) attention to breath, and 3.) muscular engagement through increased ranges of motion. Again, simple shoulder and hip opening, flexion, extension, and lateral flexion of the spine, with standing, seated, kneeling, and supine poses. And even some time upside down. Again, nothing fancy.

My hope is that these class series prove useful and valuable to the students who attend and we continue with this format in the months to come, building on these foundational sessions. When I had a studio I would usually make a class Level 1 until the students improved and were ready to advance , at which point the class would morph into Level 2 and I would start a Level 1 class at some other time. While that strategy is not exactly possible now in the same way, I generally look at teaching asana as a long-term process, not a short-term endeavor.

One thing that time on my mat during sheltering-in-place has reminded me is that big energetic shifts do not always require big poses or long hours of instruction, although I have explored plenty of both during these last few months. Asana Junkies was developed as a way to approach bigger poses intelligently and unapologetically. However, for the record, the basis of my practice has always been regular deposits in the bank of the Level 1 syllabus with less-frequent forays to more advanced postures. Any given day on my mat involves mostly standing poses, supta padangusthasana, inversions, fundamental seated poses and basic back bends like cobra and camel. Once a week, I usually look beyond that in some way. Nothing fancy.

So, that was the week in review.

On next week’s horizon is the Deeper Dive monthly talk on Thursday, July 9 at 6pm Mountain Time. I have invited my friend and mentor, Mary Angelon Young to talk about two of her many books: Krishna’s Heretic Lovers and The Baul Tradition. This will be awesome.

A Deeper Dive: In Conversation with Mary Angelon Young

Isolated and bearing witness each day to the breakdown in our society, many of us feel overwhelmed, anxious, and disheartened. While partial truths are passed off as full disclosure and corruption is exposed in all facets of life, it’s difficult to know who to trust and where to turn for strength, support, and hope.  In a time of increasing darkness and division, sahajiya—the inner culture of natural yoga practiced by the mystic Bauls of Bengal—is a beacon of sanity and possibility. Sahajiya is an unbounded, spontaneous, and organic way to connect with the divine, inner and outer, that is not mediated by creeds, religious dogma, social structures, or cultural imperatives. 

 Join Christina Sell for an intimate conversation with her long-time friend and mentor, Mary Angelon Young, as they discuss two of Mary’s books— Krishna’s Heretic Lovers (a novel) and The Baul Tradition as a means of exploring what sahajiya as a way of personal transformation can offer to us in today’s world. Expect topics to include love, sex, spiritual authority, self-trust, faith, creativity, contemplation, and the agonies and ecstasies of life as it is. 

 This event is free for Patreon members and is $10 for the general public. The session will be recorded on ZOOM and live attendance is not required. 

  Mary Angelon Young, M.S. is an author, workshop leader, and wayfarer on the Baul path of spiritual transformation. Author of over a dozen books of biography, radical spirituality, and travel memoir, Mary’s depth and breadth of knowledge come from years of study and direct experience on the path. Warm, wise, and humorous, Mary Angelon offers compassionate, compelling, and insightful commentary on the process of deep spirituality and awakening. For more information about Mary and her work, visit  www.maryangelonyoung.com. 

And, reserve August 13th for my visit with Regina Ryan. I met Regina when I was in college and was enrolled in her Interpersonal Communication class. She is one of my long-time friends, mentors, and all-around she-roes. She edited all three of my books, encouraged me to use my full name, Christina, as opposed to Tina (which is the name I grew up with) and is a font of love and wisdom. We will talk about her book, The Woman Awake.