Timeline

I have to say that I found this week's Yoga4Tango class to be somewhat more challenging than the first week. The experience of the class is so focused and intense, not to mention strenuous and fast-paced, that it is essential to bring your mind and your body to the class at their optimum levels of alertness.

When I heard that the class would be focussing on Yoga techniques for the “snuggly” Tango embrace my ears pricked. This “snuggly” embrace is something I’ve heard a lot about recently, but apparently it isn’t something you get an awful lot of on the dance floor, at least not in London Milongas.

I was sad to have missed the Yoga4Tango class last week. Unfortunately I haven’t been well and so I have pretty much locked myself away, partly not wanting to spread my germs, but mostly because I was feeling sorry for myself.

he ‘Downward Dog’ pose in yoga is referred to as one of our ‘resting poses’, but to me it feels like jolly hard work! Our instructor describes his feelings whenever he is asked to go into ‘Downward Dog’ as relieved, happy and ready to ‘let go’.

I love how these yoga classes open up my awareness of how the anatomy of my body works, and make suggestions for subtle changes and shifts in muscle tension and release that allows me to expand the movement of my body even further.

I have just come back home from a Yoga4Tango early morning mid-week practice session and I am feeling refreshed, focussed, and ready to embrace the day.

This was an exciting weekend for me. Not only did I attend the weekly Sunday class, but I also attended the new Saturday Restorative Yoga4Tango Session with Franzi after the Tango classes and practica at Tango Garden, in order to get the full Tango/Yoga experience.

This weekend we were stretching, balancing and staying grounded for charity at The Ultimate Danceathon for Save the Children. It was wonderful to see and welcome new faces, and to enjoy our Yoga4Tango practice in a new venue, at the Negracha London Tango club.

Everybody went off to dance Tango in London after the class, but I decided not to follow the crowd. Instead, I went home to spend some quality time with my self, and reflect on the Back to basics Yoga4Tango session, ...

o you ever feel like your body is too stiff and tense on the dance floor? Last week, for some odd reason, my body was feeling decidedly ‘wonky’. One side of me felt tense and refused to move smoothly.

The Yoga 4 Tango class last weekend promised to provide some “aha” moments. My personal revelation came initially in the form of a downward dog discovery, when the instructor illustrated her trick to eliminate common scrunched shoulder problems, in order to get the pose just right.