Went to my first ever Yoga Journal conference in Boston last weekend.  Six hours of yoga a day from Saturday to Sunday; way better than I thought it would be.

Saturday we started the weekend with a 2 hour session by Ana Forrest and a 2 hour session by Shiva Rea, both in a large heated room with over a hundred other yogis and yoginis.  I’m not used to the heated style of yoga so I found it a little daunting (and had to leave the room for fresh cool air at the end) but I think I lost a liter of sweat. 

Also, I was panting hard and open-mouthed and sweaty and about to pass out, but I could swear Shiva Rea looked at me when she ginned and said “You should shut your mouth – something might fly in.”  I took it as a light “correction” to breathe through the nose.  Awesome!

Finished off the day with an interesting class on Jivamukti.  Thought it would be about chants relating to yoga, but a large part of the class ended up being an attack on the evils of the meat and dairy industry.  One of the Jivamukti instructors was a passionate Vegan (to put it lightly) - not sure if this is part of Jivamukti Yoga or just her personal beliefs.  Still, I was glad I got to see a different perspective of the yogic lifestyle, and I got a pretty good correction for my wheel pose.

Sunday started with a therapeutic class taught by Julie Gudmestad on “Stablizing the core.”  We did a bunch of poses that I thought looked easy but were really, really, REALLY tough on the abs - we also heard about what the various poses do to the muscles and bones around the core.  Julie was a great speaker and clearly knowledgeable on both yoga and the physics of the body, and I liked the way she emphasized doing a pose correctly (with maximum benefit for the body) over doing the pose so that it “looked good.”  One of those eye-opening classes that gave me a deeper understanding of the yoga I do on a regular basis.

Followed that with another excellent class on meditation session taught by Rod Stryker.  We sat up cross-legged for the entire class, mostly in silence, and learned to focus our thoughts first on sounds, then our thoughts, then on the perceiver of the thoughts.  Sounds pretty “New-Agey” when I type it but I found it refreshing.  Not relaxing since our minds were so actively focused, but I left with a new respect for the value of meditation before class and in life.

Finished the day with a Thai Yoga massage class taught by Saul David Raye.  Soothing massages for the feet, legs, back, and shoulders, leaving you refreshed but not tired.  It was not only an incredible couples activity (though no partners were required for the class) but a great way to finish off the conference.

It’s great when you attend classes that further your understanding of a skill or practice; even in last Wednesday’s class I could feel my mind and body applying the lessons I learned at the conference.  Definitely worthwhile and I hope to go again.