As what was perhaps my last haunt for the month of October, I revisited one of Stewart Gilchrist’s classes at Indaba Yoga Studio this morning. Not that his classes ever ‘haunted’ me, but having attended a couple dozen of his classes in the past 6 years, the last class I went to was about a year ago. I find Stewart interesting as a person and as a teacher with a genuine sweetness in his heart that isn’t always immediately accessible. I remember the class left me feeling unbalanced; the breath count for me was too fast, assists aggressive and discourse unending. I had a chance to return this morning, and whatever my opinion of his class, the fact remains that people Love Stewart.
There were about 35 people in the class, many whom Stewart knew by name, offering verbal assists from across the room to some and praise to others. Some of his comments I found slightly presumptuous (“I can tell whether you’re breathing based on if you’re covered in a layer of sweat”
[I wasn’t sweating, but I was definitely breathing!]) and some his references off topic, but mainly I found the sequence itself sun salutation-heavy without having the chance to deepen into the postures for any length of time.
While I didn’t get any dangerous assists in class today, I did get quite a jolt when he lifted me up in pavritti trikonasana.
On a positive note, Stewart’s music was great and he was certainly confident and able to push people’s buttons enough to get everyone working hard, and that is a true skill.
Check out Stewart’s classes at Indaba Yoga Studio.
Last haunt…October 31…any ghoulish guesses?
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