Last week I attended David France's class at Tamisa Yoga

Last Friday evening, I was lucky enough to attend David France's class at Tamisa Yoga.
I am quite often spent after a long week at work. I always like the idea of going to a yoga class on a Friday evening, so that I can kick off the weekend in a nice way. Sure, sometimes, I don't mind going straight to a bar, and saving the yoga for another day. Quite often, I am still at work after 9pm... but yoga, on a Friday night is good. It's something that I aspire towards.

I had met David, briefly, the week before. I was looking forward to his class, even though I was really tired. I could have been happy with just starting, staying and finishing in shavasana..., but David had none of that. It said on the timetable 'Vinyasa 2'. I guessed, from this title, that it would be a level 2 Ashtanga Vinyasa flowy-like class. It wasn't. Well, not in the way I thought it would be. 

Instead, David turned the idea of a vinyasa upside down, at least for me. Without much ado, after a brief warm up session, we started working with what David called the 'cossack squat'. I later found out it was something that he had recently come across on Instagram. However, it was clear, by the depth of thought, and our lunges/squats he took us into, that he had seriously thought about, not just the workout this would give us, but also, an earnest enquiry into the bio-mechanics of moving into and through these movements. The class, then, was anchored by this cossack squat, which, as I told him after the class, is one move that I am, more or less terrified off. I avoid it. Simply because I don't have the best knees in the world. But, David helped me work through these fears. He offered insightful adjustments and alternatives, based on a variety of skill levels, experience and confidence. 

We finished the 90 minute class with a lengthy, quiet shavasana, which was ended by a few quick trills of some bells. 

I'm looking forward to my next class with David. I think, also, that he's running another 1-day workshop in Osaka, soon. You should contact him, if you want, to find out more about it.