It took a while until we set a date, so I was really excited to finally meet and practice with Misty, with whom I had been exchanging a lot of emails with a lot of ideas. She and Angelica are behind Ayurveda Yoga, a studio I only came to learn about recently, as I was finalizing my research for the blog.

I must admit, I wasn’t very sure what the Sunday class would be about – it’s named Sunday Morning Glory. Intriguing, right?

First observations upon arrival: the Ayurveda Yoga studio is neither tiny nor large, I’d say enough for 12-14 yogis. We were 4 on Sunday, pure luxury! Some delicate Christmas decorations were adorning the front windows.

We started with breathing exercises, which defined the breathing pattern of the whole class. We then transitioned into deep asanas – mainly warriors, (side) planks, vinyasa sequences, bridges, chair poses – and paid particular attention to alignment and breathing. I usually have issues following a certain breathing pattern throughout the class, but somehow this time was different. Misty’s guidance was so precise and pointed, and the environment had so few distractions that I just couldn’t have my mind wander (as often the case) 🙂

In my mind, the highlight of the class was Misty’s guidance on a simple sequence from all-fours to child’s pose. Impressive, how accurately she demonstrated and verbally explained every movement, position and activated muscle!

Our 90-minute class was like a mini-workshop. We overran and all stayed on for tea and a chat. We inspected handmade necklaces made by Misty and a friend of hers (see pics below) and grilled her on her yoga teaching experience.

We learned that she started with yoga as a pain relief mechanism for her acute back pain caused by riding injuries. She did lots of research before finding the right yoga form and teacher for her, which I admire a lot. I can only confirm how essential it is to find the right teacher and environment for your personal practice, I mean – look at this blog 🙂

Still, the best part of the chat was revealing Misty’s attitude to imparting knowledge to her students: in her eyes, the role of the teacher is to instill the motivation for individual practice.

I don’t want to see you in the studio every day! If that’s the case, I’m doing something wrong!

That really is a perspective I’ve never encountered before, and which of course I applaud.

One could tell that Misty is an experienced teacher who continues to work on her education and has clear teaching principles. There’s quite a long way to go if we want to detach yoga practice from the commercial motivations and the superficial triggers, but I am convinced we can connect the dots and build a yoga community with values!

I’m returning to Ayurveda Yoga soon, but this time for their monthly dinner event – I actually signed up for that before my first class 🙂

I fished for a “sneak preview” of the menu and I am going to drool my way to December 7! Watch this space for my upcoming culinary review ♥