Review: Hatha Yoga Class with Laura Searles at Sohum Yoga & Meditation Studio

       Sohum Yoga and Meditation Studio teacher Laura Searles' serene energy and clear, detailed instructions made for a blissful Hatha Yoga class this week. Laura brought the power of breathwork and repetition to a mainly floor-based practice. As I noted last week, as a home practitioner of Vinyassa yoga, it was again eye-opening to be exposed to a deeper repertoire of asanas that do not focus on the Vinyassa flow or “sun salutations.”

            While engaging her students in a long warm-up phase of class, Laura began to use repetition in poses, a theme that would continue throughout the one-hour class. For example, beginning in table pose, we raised one arm up toward the sky, resting it only briefly on the ground beneath our opposite arm before again raising it up. In sync with the inhale and exhale, we repeated this movement several times before finally pressing our shoulder and arm into the floor for an extended series of breaths. This process allowed us to ease into the pose, which can be intense on the shoulders in its final stage; as well as to deepen the side-stretching benefits of reaching the arm up and down from table pose. Towards the end of our practice, Laura again emphasized repetition—as well as the ways that poses can mirror and complement one another—by instructing us in half-bow, full bow, and dancer poses. Interestingly, she pointed out that half-bow pose (where the yogi lays stomach-down with one arm back to hold the bent knee) mirrors dancer pose, a similar silhouette while standing.

            Laura has a gift for clearly instructing her students on the small details that make an immense difference in one’s practice, yet without informational overload. For example, while in the past I had gripped my feet from the outside-in while in poses like bow or dancer, Laura suggested that we hold our feet from the inside. The seemingly small adjustment shifted my alignment in very noticeable ways, which allowed me to newly explore tension in my shoulders—always an important goal of my personal practice.

            Finally, Laura brought her exuberant energy to an exercise that she called “Breath of Joy,” which I enjoyed trying for the first time. “Breath of Joy” involves three short inhales, coordinated with arm movement, ending with a long exhale and forward fold. The exercise was fun, heat-generating, and head-clearing. It represents well my overall impression of the class—a learning experience of deepening my practice in new directions, guided by Laura’s clear, serene presence.