why i dislike night yoga

i had the good fortune of meeting one of tokyo's famous authorized american teachers, tarik thami , for breakfast with aussie yogi jane yesterday. he has a studio just a short walk away from tokyo-yoga and still teaches 2 night mysore classes a week there. as much as i do not like practicing at night, i decided to be open to it, because it would be nice to have an experienced teacher helping me with my practice.

i'm glad on some levels that i had attended, because i was very open & he gave me some of the most delicious adjustments i have ever received. in kapotasana, he just asked me to "soften" the first arm he dragged mid foot, which i had never heard of before. after hands were firmly in place, he grounded my elbows into the floor, which enabled me to bring my head way back & intensify the posture. he also gave a wonderful eka pada sirsasana adjustment, pulling the leg so far down my back, but with such ease, it was possible for me to do the next posture without much help. he is one of the tallest yogis i have ever met, and when he bends over to adjust you, you simply disappear underneath him. so i was thrilled for the opportunity to have such a teacher in the palm of my hands, until i heard he was leaving for mysore in a week. oh well. i get 2 more night classes with him. he had invited me to his studio friday morning (i do not teach on this day), but because of the ultra deep adjustments i had received, i was in no position to get out of bed at 5:30, let alone face more of those hardcore adjustments so quickly, so i opted to hobble to tokyo-yoga, where yuka teaches mysore until 11:30. and i realized why i dislike night yoga. the body is so flexible i inevitably push it to places it has never been before only to wake up in the morning a cripple. all i could manage was some pranayama & a pathetic barely half primary practice. which i guess is better than nothing. afterwards, i met yuka & eriko for traditional japanese food. i've been hearing about this chain for some time. nothing but long tables-everyone sits together, and very inexpensive sets of real japanese food. yuka had a bowl of white creamy stuff with nato beans (fermented soya-quite strange, an acquired taste) and raw egg. it was an interesting meal, but i think i will stick with ramen.