On not running away

In Ithaca this time of year, when things start to turn gray and ominous, I start to get itchy feet. I think about vacations I want to take and warmer climates to run away to. The way I see it, in our yoga practice there are two times we start to check out and run away from the present. When things get really hard, we start to wonder "How much longer do I have to be here/hold this pose?" Think: Chair pose, boat pose, balancing poses (clear application for off the mat, no?). The other is when we show up in our power yoga class, and the teacher puts us in child's pose, or some other equally restorative posture for what we deem to be an excessive period in time. We think: I came here to sweat! To physically strengthen! Why am I still lying here? It's hard, in these poses, to sit with ourselves and what is in that moment.

My class sequences this week weren't particularly unique, but were much longer holds. Some students might say, very very hard longer holds.

Started off with 5 boat poses, longer than usual.
Vinyasa to forward fold, long hold
Sun As
Tadasana
Hands to hips, lift right leg in front of you, parallel to floor (1 minute)
Warrior III (1 minute)
High Lunge (1 minute)
High lunge with twist (1.5 minute)
High Lunge
Parsvottanasana (1-2 minutes)
Plank with right leg up (1 minute)
Repeat on other side
Pigeon on both sides
Restorative poses on your back
Long savasana