What is Pop-Up Practice?

Last weekend I saw the movie Chef, the tale of a fallen, fired and twitter-disgraced Chef who claims his own creative and intimate stake in the world of cuisine by firing the engines of a food truck with the aid of a longtime colleague and his nine-year-old son. I loved it.

It’s a damn good ride; it also hit me personally, as the film reminds me why I began “Pop Up Practice” — by donation semi-private yoga classes at my home practice space.

No, I don’t have a yoga truck to match the movie’s food truck, and no, unlike Jon Favreau’s character, I teach at a yoga studio where I feel free to be my best and I work with supportive people. But still, I want to create something really personal to me, and share it directly to community without the middleman that is “mindbody” or even the “yoga studio.” And what is personal to me, is finding a marriage between my study and practice of mysore-style ashtanga yoga, which is highly individualized, and my teaching of general vinyasa yoga classes. If you’ve taken a class with me, you know I get everyone’s name and I use those names. You know that I try to give everyone an individual cue– I might say: “Sue, bend your knees there” and I mean that, literally, just for Sue. But it ain’t easy to do this in a bigger group class. So with Pop-Up Practice, I can teach something really meaningful to me– that is, what mysore teachers have shared with me– and give it back, face to face, to you. I consider Pop-Up Practice the best way to currently pay homage to my teachers and inspirations in the ashtanga yoga world. I also consider it the best way to serve you and help you grow as a student of yoga.

So what’s on my pop-up menu? Small, 6-person classes (allowing for individual teaching instead of one-size-fits-all cues), a mix of ashtanga based vinyasa and primary series classes, community– with our powwow class, in particular we’ll hang out and workshop a pose at the end of practice (this is my effort to give you something ashtanga teacher Peg Mulqueen has always given me — her time.) Sometimes we’ll chill after class and eat muffins (that’s the most I’m likely to cook).

My takeaway from the Chef film was this: If you feel like you don’t belong in the world, create the world that belongs to you. Watching it, I wanted to jump in the film and be a part of it– a part of something. I hope Pop-Up Practice gives you at least a hint of that feeling.

Pop-Up Practice Particulars:

Classes are by reservation only– you cannot just show up; email popuppractice@gmail.com, FB message me, or contact me here to reserve your spot– classes are small, limited to 6, and fill up fast. You can also sign up online here.

Classes are by donation only– the suggested donation is $20, a little more for the pop-up with powwow workshop; if you come to a bunch, feel free to discount a little for that fact.

Classes are located for the moment, in Park Meadows area of Park City, with precise coordinates going out to my signed up list of attendees closer to the date of class.

$20 Suggested donation.