I Dig Kathryn Budig!

Yesterday afternoon was Kathryn Budig's famous arm balancing workshop! A room packed full of eager arm balancing yogis gathered downtown, at Yoga One, for instruction from none other than the balancing ninja herself, Kathryn Budig. It was a stellar afternoon that left me and everyone there invigorated and excited about yoga. Not only is Kathryn an amazing yoga practitioner, she is a charming teacher as well. Her instructions just make sense. I love her explanations of "snuggle the foot back," or "pull,then snuggle your shoulder back," or, "float like a secret ninja on the rooftop trying to remain unseen." I laughed out loud at least seven different times and then walked on air for the rest of my day.

I believe we covered just about every arm balance I could think of and I even learned a new one that I had never heard or seen before: Fallen Angel. Actually, I don't believe I had ever seen or done what Kathryn called, Baby Bakasana. Baby Bakasana is crow in forearm stand. We even jumped into baby bakasana from dolphin---actually pretty challenging because everything needs to be so compact and spot on.

My jump for joy moment came when, for the first time I made it from bakasana to handstand. Finally! I swear it was her demo and instruction that just made it click and next thing you know, there I was in my inverted tree. Kathryn then challenged me to get from Flying Pigeon to Hanstand. That did nto happen yesterday, but I thought about what I need to tweak to make it happen and I believe I am going to get there soon.

Honestly, I think I want to start an official Kathryn Budig fan club. She is absolutely bad ass in every way and teachers like her are why I decided to become a teacher as well. I am grateful to Amy and Michael for hosting yesterday's workshop because it really clarified some things for me internally and helped me realize that I need to embrace my own teaching style and find a place that accepts that style rather than try to change myself into a product of the studio I am teaching at. Truth is that I can and do bring something a little different to the yoga table and if I don't stay true to myself and offer my own special dish, well...the potluck might be missing that one tasty entree.

I plan to road trip up to Yogaworks April 18 for her "Finding Ease at Your Edge" workshop with Jason Crandell. Good stuff.

Roll to Your Right (or Left) Side

Sometimes I like to roll to my left side after savasana...but usually I am only offered the option of rolling right. I wonder if my teachers know why they more often ask the class to roll to the right, or whether it is just out of habit. Although I have learned that rolling right is supposedly more gentle on the heart that is open after practicing---I get the craving to roll left every now and then. Is it rude to roll left if not offered? Is it wrong somehow? Am I the only one who feels like my right and left need more balancing and coming out of savasana is no different? I am going to roll left this week and see how I feel. Maybe I will do a heart opening practice and then roll left and see what happens.