...And we're back!

Hello Dearest Readers! I'm back, sadly without a pose of the week, but I was away on Vay-cay, and took a breather from electronic communication. I *was* in civilization, but was at a resort and didn't feel like jumping through hoops (and paying ridiculous fees) just to hook up to the internet or receive texts. Don't worry, I'll be sure to make up for it with a great pose of the week next week...

So, the boys and I went to beautiful Puerto Vallarta (spoken in my best "Love Boat" voice impersonation) for our vacation. We stayed at the Barcelo resort, and it was fantastic. We had a few mishaps getting there (flight rerouted on the way to Mexico City and delayed us for our connection to PV), so we ended up arriving past midnight - without luggage. Sheesh. What a way to start a vacation! Luckily, the resort had a swim shop, and we hooked up the boys with some cute swim clothes and the first full day went a bit more smoothly. The luggage arrived shortly after noon, and we started taking advantage of the many, many things to do! Because it was a resort, there was a daily schedule of activities. Of course, the first thing I checked for was whether they offered Yoga, and to my delight, they did!

Several years ago, we did an "all inclusive" Club Med vacation, and yoga was offered every morning. The instructor was a little (he was my height), old (about 90! I swear!) retired military officer (although if he said he wasn't retired, I'd believe him!) who was about the most flexible man I've ever seen! No, that's not him in my picture today...but I bet he could do that! He wore a mic, and narrated what he was doing, and that was it. We had to follow along. Or not. He didn't really care. But his narration was interesting, and I gave it a shot, and I enjoyed the challenge. The Barcelo's yoga offerings were not so extensive. They were offering yoga at 10 am on Mondays and Wednesdays, with some sort of "stretching" class on Sundays.

I decided to make the most of what I had, so pencilled in the Stretching on Sunday and the yoga on Monday. The stretching class was pretty satisfying; offered on the beach, so you could listen to the gentle sound of the waves, and it incorporated a few yoga moves along with some recognizable techniques from pilates and general PE stretching exercises you may have done in middle school. The guy who instructed the stretching class also instructed the kayak lessons and the water aerobics. It was funny to see where he would turn up next!

When I walked over to the "spa" for my yoga class on Monday morning, I was curious to see if the instructor would be the same guy again. I was also a tiny bit nervous about being able to follow along if the practice was in Spanish...but I realized this would be a rare opportunity, and my apprehension melted away as I got to the place where the practice was scheduled. The spa was in a lovely suite with a wrap-around balcony overlooking the beach, and I was really excited about the chance to practice yoga in such a different environment from my usual spot (on my bright yellow mat in a closed, windowless studio at the gym). I had no mat, and so had to use a cushy pool towel, but I was game for it.

The instructor was not my friend from the stretching class, but rather someone they hired in specially for the yoga class. I took this as a good sign; this was no job for the jack-of-all-trades resort guy...they were willing to hire someone in, which must mean they take yoga seriously and wanted someone with certification or at least some serious experience. In fact, one of my fellow classmates said she takes Tai Chi with him in his studio elsewhere. Again, a good sign.

Wrong. Now, I'm usually pretty easygoing when it comes to yoga class, and even when I find myself in a less than fantastic class, I make the best of it and try to do what the teacher asks. I'm not an expert, but I've been practicing for at least 3 years now, so I sort of have the gist of what's going on, and can make respectful modifications so the practice is fruitful and worthwhile for me. I am never, ever obnoxious or "show off-y". I have been in classes where some of the students overstep their bounds and try to show off or act like they know more than the instructor, and I find this plain rude and obnoxious. My opinion is that if these people know so much about yoga, they would know about the need to respect the instructor's years of training and method of practice.

I approached my makeshift mat in Mexico with this tenet in mind. In whatever this instructor chose to lead us, HE was the one with training, HE was the one who came up with the flow, and I was a participant in his practice. Even having had the experience of practicing with this guy, I still maintain that I was there to follow his lead...however, his lead turned out to be a massive FAIL. '

It's not my job or place to criticize an instructor's practice and methodology - leading and effectively instructing a practice is NOT an easy job. However, this may have been the worst YOGA practice I've ever participated in. We barely held any poses, so it wasn't Hatha. We had no flow, so it wasn't Vinyasa. It was hot out on that wrap around patio, so maybe it was some variation on Bikram, but overall, we were doing poses that were in direct conflict with every other instruction I've received.

We did bridge pose, and he kept asking us to look at what he was doing. I've always been instructed to never turn my head in bridge pose, so I didn't look. And he got mad. He insisted I look! I started to think this guy had some sort of military experience himself. In bridge pose, I've always been instructed to keep my knees perpendicular to the foot and not to extend them forward past my ankles and certainly not past my toes. Yeah, he had us bend our knees toward our toes. When I didn't, he waited for me to do it. It didn't feel good at all! We did a few planks, chaturangas, up dogs, down dogs, and walks to the top. I felt like hopping to the top, and boy was that a mistake. This instructor said walk, so I should have walked.

This could go on and on - the conflict of his instruction with all of my prior experiences on the mat. The plus side is that my husband booked us on a scuba/snorkelling boat that was leaving promptly at 11, so I had a less offensive reason for leaving the class than "You have no idea what you're doing, and I'm going to injure my knees if I keep going at this rate!" I wasn't able to stick around for the whole practice, and I was able to leave with a bit of dignity. In hindsight, I should have left feedback about the class with the program director...but again, I'm not an instructor and I'm always wary of coming across as a "know it all".

So, it was a less than productive session. But I am still thrilled that I had this opportunity, because now I have something to blog about! With jetlag, I wasn't quite up to a Wednesday practice, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a Thursday afternoon. I'll keep you posted ;)

Namaste.