I just got back from my first yoga class in China. I love to go to yoga classes when I travel, but til now I have just been doing a little flow or small amount of acro training in my room while getting used to our schedule and the area.

Tonight I ventured out to the gym above the grocery store I like, which, by the way, is not Walmart. (After initially being enchanted by the Chineseness of Walmart, my second visit was overcrowded and miserable, and I will not being going back.)

Anyway, I arrived early for the 7:20 class, having skipped dinner at the hotel, which they are now cracking down on, only to find that they have changed the schedule. It wouldn’t be China for me if the schedule wasn’t changed, though I’m not sure if that’s inherent to China or the organization I’m working for.

I took the 15 minute walk back to the hotel, blogged a bit, and got there just in time for the 8:30 class. It was full, so I got to be on the platform in the front of the room with the teacher. I can’t compare it to any other classes here yet, but in this one we held poses for probably at least three minutes. Whew. That is not usually my favorite way of doing yoga, but I had kind of prepared myself to be ready for anything. (I have been to some great yoga classes while traveling, as well as some truly awful ones. It doesn’t help to fight it.)

No standing poses, though. We started out with half-lotus/half-hero, then on to lizard, downward facing puppy, sphinx, frog, plow, happy baby, side twists, and savasana. It was maybe yin yoga, which I have been meaning to get to a class of for a while at home, but haven’t.

The male teacher had a lovely, deep, calm voice, which was extra nice because people speaking Chinese just normally often sound like they’re yelling when you are not used to hearing the language. I’m pretty sure he counted to twenty at the end of each pose. I thought it might be a good opportunity to learn to count in Chinese, but I couldn’t concentrate past three.

Of course I didn’t have any good guess as to what he was saying the rest of the time. It may have position corrections, but I imagined it could just as well have been lovely Chinese stories, or maybe some wonderful insights like Kristen Watson gives in her class. It wasn’t Mara encouraging me to hold perfectly still for five minutes, though, so I felt pretty free to fidget.

I am really looking forward to a few more classes while I’m here!

• «Previous Post
• Next Post »

---