Wednesday 2 November 2016

In the Moment #35: The Yoga Expo


I went to the Vancouver Yoga Expo and it really was awesome (to be honest, it was better than I expected. Maybe you're like me and you think there's something a little weird about "yoga people". I've sat in classes where yoga instructors told me that the moon goddess was particularly powerful this month and to be careful, and I've been told to focus on my inner light and connection with the Earth. All this makes me feel like Yoga can be a bit woo-woo but the physical practice is still something I'm curious to learn more about.


The Expo was held on Oct 2-3 but I only managed to go on the Saturday. Like other expo events, there was a marketplace area with food, accessory and yoga paraphernalia vendors. I visited many a jewelry stand and food stall but overall the market area was quite small. The best thing about the Expo though was the price. For $60 you had access to difference classes roughly on the hour for the two days. This was an extremely cost effective way of trying new and different yogas I've never even heard about (like Yin and Kunalini) and explore other things like meditation. 




I took some of the easier classes since the attendees were yoga veterans and I knew I wasn't anywhere near Intermediate or Advance with my (maybe) 5 classes worth of yoga experience under my belt. I had an amazing class with the manager at Dharma Movement Company who focuses on functional movement. Her lens of using yoga to help people maintain functional mobility throughout their life really resonated with me since I want to stay active and, you know,  able to walk up stairs when I'm 90. We were doing weird leap frog and bear walks across the floor. 

I also took an extremely insightful class on the anatomy behind pigeon pose and how certain instructions to achieving this pose might not be in the best interest of students. Assuming that all people can and should flex their feet in certain ways disregards the differences in anatomy that can disallow or allow more/less flexion in people's body parts. This was super interesting since I often get knee pains and I'm not always sure that the "right way" to do certain poses is actually "right" for me. She even brought in a skeleton model to show us what she was explaining.



Overall The Yoga Expo is really a must go for those even slightly interested in Yoga. The market place area was meh but the real benefit is the classes. I took a meditation class which was a dud but the rest were taught but the best instructors in Vancouver and it gave me insight into how to better integrate stretchs and Yoga in my active life. I also picked up a Rad Roller and it has been doing amazing things for the muscles around my spine. I'm definitely signing up again the next time the Yoga Expo comes to town.

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