Good bye Shala

Friday's class has been cancelled for a special event, so this was my last class in the old shala.  The whole hotel has been sold, so if I come back to this part of the world some day, I don't know where Coco will be teaching.  It's a beautiful place, and it really means a lot to me.
More than the place, I'll miss a lot of the people here.  We have a really nice friendly community, and everyone is really supportive of each other.  I've made some good friends among these yogis.  I hope I see some of them again.

It was nice to be back in front of the window with the cool breeze.  The class was a little easier than the last one, though i still sweated buckets.  Unfortunately Coco has been drinking far too much mate.  I say this because she did the Surya Namaskaras in doubletime.  I couldn't keep up!  Added to this, there are a few in the class who don't to a full exhale to Chaturanga-Dandasana, meaning they rush through the vinyasa, and this encourages her to race as well.

So the jump-forwards have totally disappeared.  I don't know where to, but the last few days, I haven't been able to do a single one.  It could have something to do with the loss of muscle-mass that seems to be acompanying my yoga practice.  I can jump up, but my feet get caught on the mat on the way through and stop.  Somehow I have to learn to keep my knees closer to my chest to give my feet closer in to my body.

In Marichyasana A, I figured out that I can stretch a little better if I use my armpit and shoulder to apply pressure to my shin and knee.  It helps me to keep my foot on the ground, and my chest forward.  The binds have gone again in B and C, but they'll be back again, I can wait.

There's a girl in class (I've forgotten her name) who has only been there for two months, and just can't believe that I'm such a beginner after being in Coco's classes for nearly a year.  She's just someone who was born with flexible muscles, and so finds yoga incredibly easy.  I wonder if she gets as much out of the class as all the rest of us who are struggling with the postures.  I think the struggle is really where the benefit is.  Maybe she uses it more as a relaxation class.

After class I had dinner with my friend Diego and his partner.  They're a Spanish couple who moved here because the employment situation is better here than in Spain.  It was fun to hang out with some educated people, chat about ideas and language and culture.  It's not something you find in Mexico.