A Note for Beginners

I have been blessed to teach some beginners who were frightened, but after a class with me they were converted and addicted. (I'm laughing inside because my teacher did the same to me!)

If you are a beginner and the only classes available to you are all levels classes, I am going to share some information with you:

Firstly, I realize that it is takes a special teacher who can really teach an all levels class. Personally, I have had 2 moments in my life where I was absolutely moved by beauty in a class. One of those is when I was taking classes with my teacher and every one was doing tree pose and everyone was doing a different variation! Oh it was so beautiful, because everyone was exactly where they needed to be.

So, if you are a beginner and you go into an all levels classes, be at your level. If that means the gentlest variation, good do that. Rather than looking around the room and thinking "God, I wish I could do that" or "I need to do that" or "I'll never be able to do that" What you might consider is: 1) be happy where you are at (you are only a beginner once!) and 2) see the "advanced" variations or poses as a guidance to where you are headed. Because that person wasn't born into a full split, they had to gradually get there.

This should help you when you start. But if you are in the CO area, definitely come take a class with me. If you are a beginner or working with limitations I can definitely support you in finding the right variations for you!

Namaste and Blessings!

Brandi :)

2 Simple Rules to Remember

In my classes I have only 2 rules that will really help you in your practice:

1. BREATH: You might think, well that's a given, but often times the moment we get into a pose that is challenging or we move too quickly the breath gets lost or short. If you feel it hard to breath or your breathing too quickly either back off with in the pose--maybe you are forcing yourself to go deeper then your body is ready or simply come out of the pose and rest. I suggest Child's pose or Mountain pose as great resting poses

2. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY: Always, with out exception, listen to your body. If something doesn't feel right, don't do it. If a recommendation I or another teacher gives doesn't feel right find something that works better for you. Generally, I give lots of suggestions and variations based on what I've learned from my own practice and I highly recommend my students do the same.

Listening to our bodies is probably the hardest guideline. We are so used to "doing as we're told" or listening to our brains that sometimes we forget that our bodies have a voice too--and a valid one at that. This is something I teach and a simple thing I recommend my students do is mentally scan your body in each pose--where are you over working, where are you hanging out, where can you adjust to feel more openness or more strength?

A great thing with approaching your practice by observing and listening to your body is eventually you wont have to look to see is my knee in alignment or are my shoulders relaxed, eventually you feel the difference and your body cooperates and when I see my students adjusting this way, inside I do a little "Yeah!"

So, throw down your mat, do some poses and remember to BREATHE and LISTEN TO YOUR BODY!

Namste

Brandi :)