Well, I’ve done one each of the yoga and dance classes, so no need for the puppy-eyes so far. I’ve never taken a yoga class before, so I have nothing with which to compare this. The instructor seems very California new-agey, and there’s a lot of other stuff available at the studio (aromatherapy, homeopathy) that I think is complete bunk, but I’m not sure how avoidable that is once one decides to take yoga. I want a martial-arts style yoga class, if that makes sense.* There was only one thing that made me go hmmm… the instructor bounces a lot on the stretches (and encourages us to also do so). Now, my experience with jockness is really, really minimal, so I could have just missed a memo, but I thought you were never supposed to bounce when you stretch?
The dance class was awesometastic! I didn’t realize how much I missed it until I was doing it (it’s about the one thing that I don’t think I’m really very good at but which I like doing anyway. Most times, my ego and/or competitiveness keeps me from enjoying things if I don’t think I’m at least better than average**). Though this was the “beginner” class, I’m really glad I have experience because I think I’d have been a bit overwhelmed as a beginner. The classes are supposedly designed in a rotating drop-in-any-time way, but I think in practice they’ve become more sequential. Or maybe the instructor, knowing that I wasn’t a complete newbie, didn’t simple things up. My ribcage still aches a bit; the muscles used in chest elevations apparently aren’t used for anything else, so mine have been atrophying for over a year.
The doctor’s appointment isn’t until August (so much for private health care meaning improved service!) so I’ll have to wait until then to have my triglycerides, lipids, and aphids checked. I can predict what she’ll say, though; lose about 10 pounds, do aerobic exercise for an hour a day, eat less bad cholesterol and more fibre, fruit and vegetables. It’s medical cold reading.
And on a completely different topic, I hear the SLARPA thing went well; I am happy for everyone and a bit wistful at not being there.
* No, I know it doesn’t. Move along.
** I know what you’re going to say. Keep moving along.
bouncing while stretching - that was just a thing that chick instructors came up with to keep folks from watching their bewbs. I find that stretching works really well for me when I do a little stretch-release-stretch-release, which amounts to bouncing. And not just because when I quit moving, parts of my body do not.
- You have Aphids? Man. I don't have aphids. Well, I do, but I don't think they're on the inside anymore.
I did a quick google of "bounce stretch" and got enough hits to back my vague memory of gymnastics.
Don't.
http://www.berkeleywellness.com/html/fw/fwFit02Stretching.html
If it makes you feel any better about missing SLARPcon you should know that your name came up more than once when we were doing props.
I'm not a big fan of bouncing while stretching. Potential for nasty tears, or even snaps if you're unlucky.
My yoga experience was good in that it got me doing lots of stretching and helped me with my back problems, but I found that I got a lot of numbness in my extremeties that is disconcerting, and my instructor wasn't able to help me with that, so I got frustrated and quit. I don't like not being able to feel my fingertips.
My yoga experience was in the drama class I took last spring session.
I quite enjoyed it. I hope to take a class in the future.
Not only does bouncing during stretching increase your chance of a tear, it actually makes the stretch less useful.
Think of it like an elastic band - if you pull an elastic band out and hold it for a long time it won't fully 'recover' it's original shape (ie it will stretch), if you 'twang' it you don't get the same effect (ie effort but no stretch)
Well, y'all have assured me that I'm not crazy. Not because of thinking that bouncing while stretching is a bad idea, anyway.
My next class is tonight; I'll ask the instructor about it. Maybe I misinterpreted what she was saying.
I've heard Ashtanga is the ninja-school of yoga, and Bikram's is great if you like to exercise in 35 degree heat. Go, TUO, Go!
I'm becoming a yoga convert - I feel good after each class, they play cool music in the background and you get to do a corpse pose every class. Ha!
Anywho, we do a kind of bouncing where we go farther into a stretch on each breath. An example is when you're bent at the waist trying to fold in half (nose to knee), and you bend a bit more during each exhalation until you can't bend anymore, then you hold. It looks a bit bouncey as people move a bit, pause, then bit more, pause, then again.
Or maybe your instructor should lay off the herb before class.
Cara, this wasn't the stretch-hold-stretch-hold thing. In the "butterfly" position (I think it's called? Sitting, soles of feet together, heels as close to body as possible), she was getting us to actually quickly bounce our knees up and down *while pressing on them*. I'm just not doing this. The thought of a groin muscle snapping and rolling up like a windowshade is too vivid.
Ashtanga, eh? Hmmmmm...
I've been peeking into your blog for some time... I especially love the knitting posts!
Michael and I have been doing Ashtanga yoga for a few years, and our instructor tells the newbies to stop bouncing... it's just not good for you. Maybe your teacher should lay off the aloe?
^
|___ Yoga Ninjas!
I'm assuming you took up yoga because you couldn't find a tai chi class. Maybe qigong would be an acceptable substitute. This is what Ril and I took up last winter. We've really done well with it. In fact, I'm quite certain that the qigong is what allowed me to experience shovelling snow for an hour without any lower back pain. Wahoo!