Led Practice #2 for New Beginners

This video download is the second in a series of twelve Anusara yoga classes presented by the Garden of the Heart yoga studio. It is instructed one-on-one by Jaye Martin. Although he refers to the previous class taught by Betsey Downing, which does build a foundation for this practice, the prior session is not an absolute prerequisite for this one. Martin teaches in a small room with a burbling fountain; snippets of piano and other musical chords can occasionally be heard very faintly in the background. The theme of this practice is uniqueness, which Martin brings into the very start of the class by prompting viewers to close their eyes and meditate on their own uniqueness. He suggests considering a particular color that may be personally meaningful, and he continues to connect the idea of color with uniqueness throughout the session.Martin moves on to providing basic instruction of the ujjayi breath, using the common suggestion of an “ocean wave” sound but also the more original tip of imagining breathing on sunglasses to clean them off. He begins the asana practice with many of the same postures included in the first practice session, including rhomboid pinches, cat/dog tilts, downward facing dog, one-leg downward facing dog, mountain pose, and tree pose. As compared to Downing, Martin spends a bit less time on alignment cues and moves into some slightly more challenging postures such as plank pose and a lunge twist. However, the pace is unhurried, and there are plenty of rests in child’s pose. Side angle pose is again included, but the pinnacle pose here is triangle pose, which Martin performs with an optional block. The finishing postures include a kneeling twist (a.k.a. thread the needle), and then Martin sets up for savasana, which is actually an approximately 8-minute long guided relaxation. In this segment, Martin starts with the feet, and very slowly moves up the body, softly coaxing each area to relax. He concludes the practice in a seated position, bringing the total time in right around 48 minutes. I think that new yoga students will appreciate Martin’s very gentle, genuine, non-intimidating style.