Last week I went to the Bling workshop at Tough Love Yoga, where we concentrated on perfecting three yoga poses–side plank, headstand, and crow–and explored advanced variations of these poses. For two whole hours. And it was awesome.
And I wanted to share with you why you should try a yoga workshop too. Whether it’s a workshop on savasana, meditation, advanced poses or anything in between, there’s something tremendous to be gained from taking time to explore your practice outside of a traditionally paced class.
- You get time to focus on things you might skim over in class. It’s only on a rare occasion that I get to try side crow in class, and even then, we don’t spend more than a minute on it. In the workshop environment, I got a detailed breakdown of what the pose was, how to get into it, what to feel, how to visualize moving into it, modifications, etc. We worked on it for 15 minutes or more, and it was just what I needed to integrate that in my practice better.
- You get to ask questions and learn from your peers. Workshops are far less formal that a typical class, meaning you talk, gather around each other, share mats, etc. The ability to ask questions and not disturb the flow of class is hugely beneficial in better understanding what you’re working on. Also, if you spot your peer doing something well, you can ask them right then and there how they do it.
- You have permission to make mistakes. Because you’re trying new things and exploring your practice, you have permission to fall, laugh, scream, and so on. Sure, in a class you have permission to make mistakes, but in a workshop, you have permission to make mistakes repeatedly until you get something right.
- Your teacher can take time to focus on you exclusively. If you request the help, your workshop instructor wants to be there and help you get it right. When you can spend a long time on a single pose, your teacher has time to help everyone who requests it, for as much time as it takes.
- You make your practice better. The crowning jewel of this post. Superficially, workshops are sort of an outward representation of the fact that you’re really committed to your practice. Internally, workshops have the capacity to make your practice stronger and to reveal new things to you physically and spiritually.
Which workshop will you be attending next?