Matthew Sweeney yoga workshop recap

I am so glad I attended the yoga workshop this past week-end. It fed me physically and perhaps more importantly mentally. I was prepared to take notes during his talks, but then decided against it. I wanted to be completely present listening to him. Whenever I take a notes I often find I miss half of what the presenter says.

Friday night's session we did his moon sequence. Given the fact that my leg was still bothering me and that my practices over the last few weeks have been hit or miss this is what I needed. The longer holds and the focus on hip openers was perfect for my sciatica and left leg.

Saturday morning's class was basically two thirds of primary and then we went back and revisited some of the standing postures. Matthew pointed out that most of us fly through the standing postures when we really should focus on them more as they build much needed strength in the legs - required for backbending postures. The afternoon we focused on jump through's and jump backs. He does a great job of prepping for each of these and then breaking them down into achievable 1-2-3-4 steps. Very accessible for all no matter where you're at in your practice.

Sunday morning class was the Lion sequence - from my understanding an alternative to ashtanga 2nd series and much more accessible to students. Great focus placed on standing postures and waking up the legs. Really enjoyed this and suprised how shaky my legs were! We did a series of postures where we were kneeling but rather having the feet flat we were curled up on our toes. Afternoon session was backbending. Another area that many students rush through - his recommendation is to work on backbending much more in our practice.

At the end of each session Matthew held an open discussion for close to an hour. Although I knew much of what he said I needed to hear it again. I realize that although I may know something in my head I don't always know it at the cellular level. This is definitely where my work lies ahead.

The guy is incredibly down to earth, willing to share his experience and learnings, and very inspiring. While I could go into much further detail I'm still digesting all that I learned.

I would love to do his month long Thailand retreat. I spoke to my hubby and he was of course incredibily supportive and says I should do it. I'm going to give it some more thought and then see if I can swing it. After all this company does owe me a seven week sabbatical!