Saturday, September 21, 2002


hildebrandt redeemed

ok, ok: i was wrong about christopher hildebrandt. he's a good yoga teacher; maybe it wasn't him, it was the ashtanga. i just have to face facts: i make one grumpy ashtangi. . .

why have i radically revised my opinion of hildebrandt? pizza, of course. no seriously! because i want to make pizza tomorrow, it's hard to go to the early evening yoga class i usually do on sundays. this meant that i really had to take a class today. but honestly -- i can't bear to leave the house before noon on a weekend. my best yoga option at yoga people was hildebrandt's new 4pm vinyasa class. so i steeled myself, showed up, and got quite a pleasant surprise.

hildebrandt taught a wonderful yoga class, both relaxing and invigorating. he started with a 5-minute seated meditation, and then moved on to a relaxing and delightful pranayama practice with bolsters. from there, the class spent 45 minutes in simple -- but not easy -- vinyasas and action work, worthy of mark whitwell himself.

we did vinyasas like moving from dandasana (staff pose) to table top and back again. also moving from down dog to up dog, from kneeling to camel pose prep, and some basic leg lifting. in between these we would stop for a few comic lion poses in samastitihi (steady standing pose). it was actually quite difficult toward the end. then he counted out the sun salutations, both a and b, 12 times a side. that's right -- sun salutations toward the end; an unusual but interesting sequence. . .

finally we ended with some partner stretching, which was frankly fun. usually, partner work is kind of awkward and embarrassing -- who is this person and why am i grabbing their sweaty bod? but hildebrandt seemed much less tightly wound than in the ashtanga work i'd done with him, and so we all could relax. finally we collapsed back to the bolsters.

now here i am, eating my own bytes -- i take it all back. go try hildebrandt's open vinyasa class.

posted by fortune | 7:37 PM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments