Partner Yoga with Gigi and Chad

so much fun. No, seriously, SO much fun. Chad and Gigi ran a partner/contact class at Santa Monica Yoga Co, and Kimi and I decided that this would be the best double date ever. We got there a little late (oops!) but rumor has it that class started with an invocation to Ganesh, remover of obstacles, and a collective Om. Gigi and Chad then led a vinyasa together, switching off leads, guiding us through a short but beautiful and challenging practice. After we felt grounded and connected, we began the contact. First up- a row of trees. We used the people next to us as balance, and found that it was much easier to balance with some help. Gigi reminded us to find our own center first, and then assist others. Warrior III with some arms for support showed up, and then we did utthita hasta padangustasana, a big mouthful and tricky pose (hand to big toe). Standing, you balance on the left leg while bringing your right knee into your chest. You then had the option of handing that knee to your partner, or perhaps extending the foot and passing the foot along. It is considerably less challenging then it looks, a testament to the power of groups, I suppose. Then came the partner work: now we were really getting started. We stacked up planks, when one partner does upper push up, and the other grabs hold of his or her partner's ankles, and places the tops of their feet on their shoulders. Double down dog followed, and we were able to get a whole row of down dogs (which resemble more handstand prep) across the room. I think the record for my group is 8, but I think another group topped that. "Are you ready for the climax, guys?" asks Gigi. With Chad, they demonstrated a way for one partner to move from a handstand into a backbend with the other partner's assistance. That description, unfortunately, does little justice to how divine that pose feels. It's called "backpacking". Imagine the best adjustment you ever go in a wheel or camel, and multiply that joy times 100. I started laughing and I couldn't stop!

Breathing with Mark Whitwell

Mark Whitwell started class with a flair of southern hospitality and light chatter, as if he was perfectly willing to be distracted by anything that was to happen in the next five minutes. He engaged with students by asking them about how their practice was going, and then sparked connections with students he had lit up in the past. Most fascinating, he asked if he or she was continuing their practice. If the answer was yes, he would be ecstatic (well, very, very calm, but ecstatic). Mark has a real personal connection with people, cultivating a true guru-student relationship of caring, guidance and compassion. His dedication to the breath is clear during class. He comes up next you and listens to your breath (a technique that Jared Hirsch implements....of the same teacher). It is a simple and quiet technique, and yet it takes a tremendous amount of strength of character to do this as a teacher. I've tried focusing on the breath in classes, and asking to listen to people's breath in this matter- and its hard. What's most curious is that it is my own trepidation holding me back. I am not confident of my ability to sense when people really are or are not ujjayi breathing. I have too many doubts, such as 'oh, maybe they are being quiet' or 'oh, maybe they are not ready' or 'perhaps this is not what the person desires in his or her practice today'. Perhaps it is just that I have not yet learned to make those fine disctinctions. Mark Whitwell knows the breath, and knows exactly when you are engaging ujjayi, and exactly when you are not. In fact, as he came up to me, I was convinced that I was breathing right- I was efforting the thing, intently. Yet Mark reminded me that ujjayi is less willfullness and more dedication and openness, that the breath bypasses the nostrils and comes right from the heart. That image stuck with me, and all of a sudden the center of my body is my lungs, and they initiate and inhale and exhale, they become the center of my being. Mark stood next to me, faithfully through my sun salutations, until the concentration I had in his presence sunk into my patterning. He continued to check in with my several times throughout class, and advised me that I must breath like this all of the time, even in other people's classes. That breathwork has stayed with me, and I am so grateful for it.

Gigi Yogini

I won't lie, I read up about Gigi, particularly the way she lives in a yoga cottage, the night before I took her class. I think it is very exciting to me to meet teachers whose lives and practices are very integrated.

Gigi's class- although a vinyasa flow- has a rhythm to it that feels more like a hatha class. First we started off with breathing- different types of heating breaths. Now, the room we were in was called "water". but make no doubt, this was a heating practice. We started off with rounds of various breath work, including bhastrika, a brisk and strapping breath that kills anxiety. We did a few versions, combined with different arm work, and some twisting afterwards. Then we began to move into a flowing practice, which was paused for select poses such as crow, with challenges- perhaps you would like to try a twisting crow, today? perhaps you would like a supported arm balance?

Gigi's authentic and accepting presence forms a powerful class.

As a side-note, Gigi had her fellow artists express themselves on the outside of her house and fence. She was forced to take this down due to a Los Angeles law violation on graffiti. This blows my mind as graffiti is specifically the act of writing on a person's property *without* their permission. To best of my reason, you can't ban a medium of painting because it "looks" like graffiti. I would love to learn and participate in how this works out.

Ally Hamilton

If you want to take a moment to truly fall in love with humanity, take a trip to the bathroom at Yogis Anonymous. You'll be greeted with the most positive, energizing and inspirational bathroom graffiti that has ever existed. You know the graffiti in your favorite coffee shop- scratch that- that's nothing- this stuff is fantastic. It creates a sense of community that is truly inspirational.... I may have never met the person on the mat next to mine, but if I have the suspicion that they wrote "trust your struggle" or "follow your bliss" on the wall next to the sink, I have an innate trust for that human being.

Ally is the director of the studio, and her class is power vinyasa FUN. Her alignment background shines strong and keeps her students on track. My favorite part was when we imagined we had a tennis ball between our thighs in warrior 1 and in crescent lunge (I think).

We did yelling kick ups from warrior II, lots of lunging with some fun side angles, and there was time for handstands or other inversions right up against the wall. There was a point when her playlist switched over to her 4th of July playlist- for no reason- and she just rolled with it. It became a part of the enjoyment of the class.

Yogis Anonymous is a down to earth yoga studio specializing in real world bliss and creativity. The post art on the walls (a woman with her finger to her lips..shh), the blank canvasses, the figures doing chair pose above the bathroom...all a reminder not to take anything too seriously....

Aria Mayland

I had the good fortune to practice next to Aria one day in class, and let me tell you, it's impressive. After taking her class, however, I understood that her inversions weren't a result of pure luck, but of intelligent, mindful and a very specific sort of hard work. After some slow stretches, strengthening and awakening work and some flow, we moved onto our peak pose, handstand. The intention for the class I took was about rolling in the inner thighs, and we took out blocks and practiced that. Aria commented about firming the triceps towards the biceps, and gave us many more precise cues that unfortunately I cannot now remember. But I did mind them very much, and as all yogic work, it sinks into the body sometimes without notice. Then, Aria took it one step further, and asked us to do donkey kicks with a block between my thighs. This was absurdly frustrating (and for that reason brilliant). I can do a decent job with donkey kicks, but with a block, my ego took a nose dive. And watching that process, and the senselessness of those thoughts- there the yoga kicked in. We moved into other handstand preparations, and then finally went up, which was so fun and super rewarding. Aria gave lots of options for how to kick up into handstand, and individually guided students. Handstand (next to camel) is my favorite super refreshing pose. I felt amazing after that class....

Mary Beth

Mary Beth has such a beautifully soothing voice! I jumped into her candlelit gentle class five minutes late to be comforted by the ease and comfort in her voice. I was impressed by her tone even all the way in the back of the room. Mary Beth is personable and kind, warming the space with her presence.

We did a lot of anjaneyasana, low lunges, pulling the elbows back and allowing the heart to shine. Her music was seductive, particularly 'Slowly' by Max Segdley, one of my favorite vinyasa songs. The simplicity of the sequence was perfect for a late night Wednesday class, and everyone in the room was feeling the calm vibe. Candlelit, slow, smooth vinyasa, ending with some backbends and restorative poses. As always, there is a warm supple heat that naturally occurs in every Surya class.

Lila Jones

Lila has tremendous grounded energy: my first instinct was the say she was the second most grounded person I've ever met.

To enter her class at Santa Monica Yoga Co, you have to travel a staircase with the words "Down To Earth" atop it. If that doesn't set the mood enough, she also started out with nadi shodna, a balancing breath that requires complete focus and concentration.

Afterwards, we did some warming poses before heading into a steady smooth vinyasa. The room was heated, but not in an oppressive sense, but more in a warm and cozy rainforest type of heating. Lila's verbal cues were as powerful as deepening adjustments, and her commitment to the room invited her students to find their dristi as well. Her Annie Carpenter roots shine through with the precise alignment cues and physiological outlook.

I remember heading into arda chandrasana fairly early, and then moving into a twist. After, I was in such a trance that unfortunately I remember very little, apart from the fact that I liked the music and I was moving with a strong flow of energy. I remember pausing and savoring a triangle. The ironic thing about a wonderful class is how difficult it is to remember what one did afterwards. I do remember that as some point I traveled up into a handstand and fell over, and how ok it was to fall over in that class. I remember taking my hands to my head for clear thoughts, to my mouth for clarity in my speech, and then bringing my clarity to my hear.t

I'll have to take class again, with more careful notes : ).