Yoga with Glenn Black - Day #3

Today we're only scheduled for a half day.  I don’t know what I'm going to do with myself for the second half of the day, but there’s no shortage of stuff to do here.   There’s a library, a bookstore and a cafe.  There’s basketball courts and tennis courts. There’s a meditation labyrinth and a peaceful place called Sanctuary that’s also appropriate for mediation.  There are lots of walking trails through the woods, and there are kayaks that we can use on the lake.

I realize I have mostly written about the the Yoga Immersion. But just the experience of being here at Omega is worthy of mentioning.  I made a little video of my walk to the breakfast hall this morning and then I had a very light breakfast anticipating a lot of tough work in today’s class.   

As you can see in the video, it’s like a nature reserve, or a very expensive campsite. It is so nice (especially being from Manhattan) to walk slowly along a stream and listen to the birds and the babbling creek and see the wind move the leaves on the trees. It really is healing to sit on the grass and watch the mother goose and her goslings feeding on the grass near the lake. It’s so nice to be away from the noise of the city.  The only loud noise I’ve heard in three days is when it’s dinnertime, they blow a conch shell.  And if you happen to be anywhere nearby, that’s a pretty loud noise.  But it is a loud noise with a different quality than a siren, or honking horns.

In our session this morning we focused on Warrior 2 and Side Angle Poses for a while.  Geez, they can be excruciating poses if you hold them long enough.  And we held it long enough!  

Then we got out the kettlebells and did some swings and some crunches. Those kettlebells are such a good workout. I feel like they're working the whole body.  They're incredibly simple and they get me to the red zone REALLY FAST.  Then, we did some work on back strength without the kettlebells because doing this type of work would have been too strenuous with them.  We balanced on our bellies and flew like superman.  I was really feeling it in my butt by this time. 

Then we spent a heck of a long time stretching our hamstrings in a Triangle Pose and a Revolved Triangle Pose, but laying on the floor instead of standing.  When we were done, my hips were so changed, I felt like I didn’t know how to walk.

As always, we ended with a 30 minute yoga nidra (relaxation). This was the first day I was able to remain completely alert.  So far, every time I got really relaxed, I started to drift away occasionally, but today I was focused on my relaxation the whole time.  And as I was walking away from the pavilion to go to lunch, I was in a different space than usual.  Typically after my deep relaxation, I’m relaxed and somber, but today, I was blissed out and happy.  I like it much better.

Glenn is really getting deep into my hips and back. In today’s class I have to admit I was dogging a bit.  I’d let my pose go whenever he was facing away or adjusting someone else.  

I hope I can handle the rest of the week.  We still have three and half more days.