Tony Sanchez Training - Day 2

I am feeling much better today, almost back to my normal self after spending the second half of yesterday sick as a dog. Ida and I started this morning with a walk on the beach with fellow trainees Paul (UK) and Alan (California). It is dark when we start and the sky gradually lightens until the sun rises at about 6:45. 

Alan is a photographer, and he has an idea to take pictures doing yoga postures silhouetted against the rising sun. It seems a bit early to be doing standing bow, but I am game.

With Tony, we start the morning talking about the sequence and the purpose of the postures. There are 6 movements that the spine can make - bend right, bend left, bend back, bend forward, twist right, twist left. These are the most important elements of the practice. If we can only do a few postures, these are the elements we should try to accomplish. The health of the spine. The other stuff - the strength and flexibility of the joints and extremities - is important too, but they are secondary to the spine.

During the morning practice, Tony adjusts my Splits In the Air (also known as Standing Splits or Needle). He brings my kicking hip WAY up and tells me to pull harder against my standing leg. Whoa, that is different. Most teachers say to lower the kicking hip because so many people raise it too high, so apparently I have been overcompensating and bringing my hip too low. I am excited to have the individual attention and progress.

Also his cue in Rabbit changes the posture for me. He says squeeze your arms into your legs and push down with your feet. My posture shifts forward, giving me more stretch in my neck. Lovely.

After doing the series, we do a little posture and teaching clinic for the Salute To the Sun. Tony demonstrates while we write down all the individual movements and cues that will make for effective teaching of this sequence.

Here is Tony demonstrating the backbend. We discuss the difference between bending forward with straight or curved back. We discuss the intent of each posture, so that when the time comes to make modifications we know what to preserve and what to change.