We had a substitute instructor today. M is young, with a soft, pleasant voice, and a friendly, welcoming manner. We began sitting on our bolsters on our chairs in a prayer posture and then moved our shoulders up and down and our arms gently in and out, then our heads up and down, and side to side and back and forth. All of this was done very slowly to soft music – very relaxing. So far, so good. Nothing hurt, although M reminded us frequently to move only as far as we could comfortably. If it hurt, move back to where it didn’t.
Then we stood behind our chairs and put our weight on one foot and lifted our other foot off the floor, pressing it against our lower leg. Then we removed our hand from the chair and tried to lift our arms overhead. I watched our instructor stand in this pose without wobbling for what seemed an eternity while I hopped around, laughing, trying to keep my balance. Then we changed feet. Same result. Well, I knew I had balance issues – that’s why I’m there. I learned this is called the “tree” position. I decided my interpretation looked more like a wobbly dead bush.
