Apart from the Tour de France, the French are not known for their love of sport or grueling physical exertion (although a Frenchman has not won the Tour in many, many years). The “classic” French sporting activities -- race-car driving at Le Mans, perhaps, or skiing the Alps – don’t evoke intense bodily engagement. Admittedly, soccer has become a national craze, especially after the 1998 World Cup and 1999 European Cup wins by the French National team, but your average Parisian does not engage in intentional physical exertion.
And yet, there seems to be an emerging interest in Yoga, at least here in Paris. Several studios advertise in the bi-weekly FUSAC (French-USA Connections), a compendium of French and Anglophone classified ads. Now that I have been to two of these yoga studios, I can say with confidence that they are overrun with Americans. Indeed, many of the teachers are American. While I find this slightly disturbing, I am glad to have found a studio close to home that offers a rigorous practice (In yoga terminology, you don’t take a class, you practice the discipline of yoga.).
I first attended a free trial class in the heart of Paris, up four flights of stairs that reminded me of the lofted dance studios my mother used to take classes at in New York City. An American woman greeted me in French and asked me to sign in. It was determined that I shouldn’t take the advertised free class, as it was meant for people who had never taken yoga before. Having logged about five years of fairly serious study back at home, I was pleased to be placed in the “normal” course. Strangely, all students were asked to wait together in the foyer until a bell was rung and the classroom assignments announced.
The normal course was assigned a room that turned out to be much too small, so we picked up our stuff and changed rooms. This was my first time taking yoga in a space specifically meant for that purpose. In addition to the inspirational (French) posters and photos of yogis decorating the walls, we were offered towels, blankets, and pillows to (literally) support our practice. Incense was burning and the lights were soft.
And then it began. Our instructor, a chubby, mature woman, did not participate in the class or demonstrate at all, but offered direction and a fair amount of individual attention, not all of which was welcome. In fact, she was rather harsh in her commentary to those who failed to execute the postures correctly. She reminded me of the stereotypical, chalk-throwing French teacher who sneers at her students for failing to speak the language perfectly. It was a bizarre combination.
During the 90-minute class, we did quite a few sun salutations and some breathing exercises, with long stretches of shavasana (the corpse pose, which is used for relaxation) in between postures. I was irritated by this, being used to working hard for almost the entire class and then ending with a final relaxation. On the up side, we did attempt head stands and the fish pose, which are both rather advanced. It was cozy to pull the blanket up around me for the last few minutes and really relax, and I enjoyed the chanting at the beginning and end of the class, but generally speaking I was underwhelmed.
So I sought out a second option, Bikram Yoga Paris. Bikram is this nutty yogi in Beverly Hills who developed a special practice (it’s probably trade-marked) that has become something of a phenomenon in New York. One of my yoga buddies from Forest Hills tried it out with positive reviews some time last spring. I decided to give it a whirl.
There are several components to the Bikram practice:
1) The room is heated to promote muscle warmth and toxin release (not to mention tons of sweat). Therefore, everyone must have his/her own mat and bath-size towel to soak up their own moisture.
2) No talking in the studio. Period. Unless the teacher speaks directly to you.
3) 26 specific poses are practiced in sequence, beginning and ending with breathing exercises. Standing postures are done first, including plenty of balancing and back-bending, followed by lots more back-bending and stretching in the sitting and prone postures.
4) A short break in mountain pose (tadasana) occurs at the completion of each set of standing postures, while a short break in shavasana takes place in between the floor exercises.
5) Each pose is performed twice and the goal is to hold for five breaths or so the first time, and somewhat less the second. For example, Rabbit Pose for 5 breaths, shavasansa, Rabbit Pose for 4 breaths.
6) Everyone is encouraged to drink water during the class, but only at specified times. The goal is to replenish some of the lost fluids and stay hydrated, but not to cool the body down.
Well! I have never, I mean never, perspired so much in my life! The poses are rigorous, and work smoothly together. I am soaked to the skin after each session, and my towel appears to have just come out of the washer. I am not kidding. The beauty part of this studio is that it’s just about 6 minutes from our house, so I don’t have to worry about commuting on top of the class commitment.
I’ve met two of the teachers so far. One is a tiny, very flexible French woman who verges on being a contortionist. She takes her job seriously, but doesn’t enforce the class regulations too strongly. She took the first class I attended and I remarked on her lovely expression of several of the postures (that’s yoga-speak for she was really good). The other teacher, Rob, is a young, freckly American guy who wears OP trunks. He’s surprisingly strict during class (no talking! Don’t drink yet!), but genuinely very nice on the outside (the instructors also act as receptionists and take money, etc.). His French, however, is remarkably bad, both in his pronunciation and in his grammar. I sometimes have trouble understanding his French because of this, or am not clear if he’s talking to the whole class or to one individual person. He does usually pepper what he’s saying with English, fortunately for us Anglophones!
After two classes, I signed on for a one month subscription, enabling me to attend as many classes as I care to for a single price. If I’m not bored silly by these 26 postures by the end of the month, perhaps I’ll continue…
No comments:
Post a Comment