Help of Ojai 6.11.08

14 showed up for class.
Winifred was there to assist.

I attempted to introduce something new and I'm not sure it worked out so well.
It's difficult to find appropriate poses to help stretch the front of the thighs and quads. An action that replaces lounges, because lounging is too hard on the knees.

Here's what was taught:

began supine baddha konasana
with breathing down and wide into the low belly.
arm stretch overhead, moving with the breath x5
knees into chest
apanasana
hip rotation awareness- external vs. internal rotation
eye of the needle into the twist with block under foot
transition to all fours
pelvis/tailbone awareness, cat/dog tilt

chairs
tail bone awareness
arm/shoulder stretch series with strap

stand in tadasana with block in between thighs
pelvis/tailbone awareness

1/4 sun salutations x6
down dog with hands on chair
tadasana
balance work:
thigh stretch with strap (aka dancer pose)both sides.
this was difficult and frustrating for most everyone. a great learning experience for me. still delveloping the language to teach it. it was new for me.

down dog with chair
lounge with chair- very tricky to teach. i could feel imidiate resistance from the group. it's easy to show up and teach a "crowd pleasing" class. This was not the case.

tadasana alignment
transition onto backs
bridge pose demonstration with block in between thighs.
gentle spinal twist
knees to chest, curl forehead to knees
savasana
namaste