March Observation #2

Intermediate Class taught by Deirdre on Saturday, March 21, 9:15-10:30 a.m.

My main objective in this observation was to note and analyze the differences between an intermediate practice and "all-levels" classes.

The studio was full. There were 13 participants and two observers, and everyone looked pretty serious for a Saturday morning.

The instructor began by seating the students comfortably and having them draw attention to the breath. This phase of the practice was quite thorough, and lasted about seven minutes.

Movement began with arm sweeps and other arm movements, and transitioned easily to child's pose. At this point the students' attention was "reconnected" to their breathing, at about 9:31. This return to attention to the breath occurred intermittently throughout the practice, as it has in all Viniyoga classes I've seen or participated in.

Movement continued with cakravakasana/child's pose, with added movements of the arms and legs, such as lifting the right arm and left leg simultaneously during table top, then lifting the limbs on the other side on the next cycle of the movement. From simple lifts, the instructor moved the class to horizontal arm sweeps during table top, and in doing so provided a smooth transition from table top/child's to vajrasana.

This set the tone for the entire session; the repertoire of simple movements -- the same ones I had seen in all-levels classes -- remained the same, but their variations were explored more in-depth and with more detailed instructions and complexity of movement within the postures than I had seen before.

For example, vajrasana was the basis for moving into downward dog, then the class moved back through vajrasana to table top again, only this time with a lateral bend added, followed by a slow transit to upward-facing dog. The whole sequence used table-top as a hub for other, auxiliary forms of movement, and instructions were very detailed throughout.

At 9:43 the class moved to poses from a prone postion such as salabhasana and bhujangasana. Standing poses came after that, and then two postures that participants had requested specifically, a quadriceps-stretching/balance pose called "Dancer's" and a hip opener called "pigeon" prepared the group for savasana, which was approached through dvipada pitham (bridge) posture.

I spoke with Deirdre briefly after class, and she verified my observation that the movements of an intermediate group are intentionally designed and sequenced with greater attention to small details than those of an all-levels session. She explained that part of the rationale for this is that the participants need to pay very close attention to the instructions in order to execute the movements properly, which serves to keep students' attention securely fastened on the task at hand. It's a technique that helps increase mindfulness, in addition to stretching and moving all parts of the body.