Before she starts the test, Sally selects a female instructor and then goes into performing four exercises - deep breathing, half moon pose, warrior pose and the tree pose.
GR: Are these exercises accurate to yoga? Were they taught correctly?
Sally: The instructor is pretty good with the instructions. But it’s weird keeping your foot on the Board the whole time - like with the Warrior pose [which only requires one foot at a time]. For breathing, it was fine though. I could’ve used more direction. Tree pose could have been better. Warrior was kinda lame, but the half moon one was good.
GR: Is the instructor giving you good tips on the exercises?
Sally: Not too much. You never get a sense how you’re supposed to “feel” doing the pose. So you don’t really know if you’re doing it right. Like… analogies are a great way to get into and feel the pose properly.
GR: How do you feel about your personal trainer? Helpful? Sadistic?
Sally: She was positive and nice. But she did get pissy with me when I stepped off the board. Other than that, she was encouraging and friendly.
Points are scored by how well you balance on your feet during each pose. Sally scored well enough to be labeled a “Yoga Trainer” on the Deep Breathing and Half Moon poses, yet was scored as a “Newcomer” on Warrior and Tree pose.
GR: Many yogis know that yoga isn’t competitive and that it’s a personal journey - yet, when you saw that you got a high score, you cheered. What gives?
Sally: I guess I was happy to see that, but not so happy when I saw I wasn’t doing well. Like any game right? I stand by the “own journey” part even though in group class it is so not about watching your neighbor and how far they can go. It’s about working yourself and opening yourself to new awareness.
Yoga’s main aim in a nutshell is to calm the mind using breath and body and to bring awareness for great circulation and health. Yoga has cognitive, physical and emotional benefits. I did not feel that in the game.
