Esher Vexler and Juan Anguiano at the Texas Yoga Retreat

As a yoga teacher I know there are some classes that you have to plan very carefully to give the student the opportunity to receive all the benefits. One of the biggest challenge is partner yoga; not because is hard, or students can injure themselves, no, that is not the issue. The issue is that is so easy to become a loud, unfocused class.

Yoga doesn't really allows for social interaction, you keep your personal space, listen carefully to the instructions and at the end you feel refresh and renew.
In partner yoga all those rules are gone and you enjoy interacting with others.

Last week at the Yoga for Texas Retreat I had the opportunity to enjoy a partner yoga class led by the oldest teacher in Texas: Esther Vexler.
She came from San Antonio. Esther is 92 years old, with a lovely presence and kind energy.
My partner was a 65 years old lovely former dancer and yoga teacher. Ria was very flexible and we were able to do all of the poses.

As expected the class was a bit distracting but full of joy. We did tree poses, triangle, back-bends, forward bends with a partner. Miss Vexler was very patient and we had to pay attention to understand the pose we were about to do.
There were lots of laughs and bodies projected to the floor without injuries. Esther did her best keeping us engaged and remind us to appreciate the trust of our partner .
Without a doubt, it was a fun experience!

On another class, Juan Anguiano gave directions so we could had a closer and experiential look at Mula bhanda. He looks like 20 though he told me he is in his mid thirties.
Juan gave us different exercises to start feeling the lifting of the pelvic floor and how that sensation can be handle in other poses like triangle, warrior pose or cross legged pose.
Unfortunately the time didn't allow to go deeper into the meaning of the bandhas in a yoga practice.
By the end everyone was able to feel the lifting and support of the root lock.

As for the organization of the Texas Yoga Retreat, I have to say that they were very attentive of our needs and participants' comments.
Barsana Dham is a beautiful and quiet place that allows people to focus and enjoy the retreat, the food was great!
Some of us even got some beautiful kurtas for an amazing price. One day the lady form the gift shop showed us how to wrap around a Sari.

At the end I came back home through a pouring rain but with a big smile and appreciation for having renew energies and have met very interesting people.

Thank you!