When The Measure Becomes The Target
/Dear Yogis,
Summer is here! Yoga in the garden this morning. Finally! Ashtanga today and tomorrow but please don’t be put off if you can’t touch your toes! How is it that this became the metric of whether yoga class is for us or not? (Goodhart's Law says: ‘When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure’) I recently studied with NY based, international yoga teacher Eddie Stern who spent a period of not being able to touch his toes due to backaches. He said he put his back out due to extreme yoga postures.
So, his solution was to study various sun salutations from a variety of areas and traditions of India. There are just so many. His Sun Salutation would include a half-fold, then dropping down into squat, then plank. Nothing to disturb a troubled back. It’s genius. Come and try this!
I have just spent the last three days studying Restorative Yoga with Anna Ashby. I will start teaching this on Friday nights next month. I’ve picked out this nugget from my notes: ‘Slowing down, deep breathing and nervous system regulation are crucial to modern living. How are we resourced to navigate social and personal stress? Restorative goes against the grain of constantly doing, achieving, moving, going. It invites you to be still. It is a treat and a clue to unpicking some of the constructs that cause us suffering.
Come and try.
Classes
So, evening classes are all now Stretchy classes. Next Sunday morning (31st – not this weekend… Bank Holiday) my new yoga-for-strength class starts. It is 90-minute Ashtanga yoga class with extra drills, press-ups, strengthening ideas and fun.
June brings a proper Friday evening unwind-from-the-week Restorative class. It will be a 90-minute class, which will make it properly worth your while to give the body and nervous system time to dial down.
Mon, Tues & Wed evenings = Stretchy yoga at 7.00-8.00pm – this is the popular one.
Friday morning = Ashtanga at 8.30-9.30am – this is the one that pushes you.
COMING SOON: Friday evening = Long Restorative Yoga – 6.30-8.00pm – A proper unwind
Saturday morning = Ashtanga at 8.30 – 10.00am – this is the longer one that pushes you.
COMING SOON: Sunday morning = Yoga-For-Strength at 8.30 – 10.00am – this is Ashtanga with press-ups
And, by the way, you can post a google review of my classes here.
Yoga in the News
Waltham Forest Echo has: New yoga studio opens next to Soho Theatre Walthamstow. ‘According to figures cited by the company, 6.1% of residents in Waltham Forest report being in bad health, while 16.4% of households experience fuel poverty. It also said more than a third of economically inactive residents are unable to work due to long-term sickness. MoreYoga argued that rising living costs and pressure on local services had increased demand for accessible community facilities and lower-cost wellness provision.’
South China Morning Post has: Want help getting yoga poses right? AI-powered app analyses your photos.provide-personal-insight-and-advice (OH MY GOODNESS! DON’T DO THIS! EXAMPLE…) ‘If a student’s heels will not touch the floor in a Downward Facing Dog pose, for example, a teacher might simply say “stretch your calves”. But the platform’s AI assistant can identify skeletal or muscular reasons for that specific limitation. The user’s hamstrings might be underactive, their quadriceps overactive or their hip flexion underdeveloped’
Come to class!
Have a wonderful bank holiday weekend.
