First Bali yoga practices

,So, the yoga! The reason I am here in Bali ... ! Already it is very special. Dena is somehow not how I expected at all. (Why did I think she was tiny?!) In one way she's a normal Aussie girl (OK, woman!) But there's a real strength and control in there, and I know she is going to teach me so much, bring my yoga practice to a new level.

On the first afternoon we spent a lot of time with the breath (how nice!). Then we very slowly went through Surya Namaskar A, breath by breath, breaking each bit down. Ditto with Surya Namaskar B. Then just finished with a few gentle backbends. After that we sat in a circle (all 30 of us) and talked a little bit about ourselves, our practice, whatever. I guess the class is more Aussies than anything else, but there were Swedish people, Americans, Japanese, and a couple from Brazil!

Then this morning we went through the standing sequence led, before Dena 'let us go' to finish the rest on our own. Halfway through the sun salutes she stopped everyone to pull us up on the 'Upward facing dog' section. Reminding us all that this is the first backbend in the series, and that we should be aiming to bend the thoracic section of our back, not the neck or lower back (from whence comes back and neck pain!) It was really interesting - about how we had to first stretch our back by pulling from both ends, the toes and the head, so there is space to bend! I could go on about stuff she said, but I won't ... But I really tried to do this through the practice.