YOGA - Inner Peace and Tranquility
I went to the gym this morning. I did the Latin (chacha) Impact class. Lu-uv-it! It’s funny watching all these women (I can’t mention the men, poor darlings) of all races, twisting and thrusting and merengue -ing with their arms flailing all over the place. I love dancing. Any kind, except the one where the guy leads you around backward, by the neck in a circle - a little too livestock for me, I'm afraid.

Directly afterwards was the yoga class. I have come to love yoga. I hate missing a class I like it that much. It is so focused and slow (which has been a huge challenge). Today’s class was surprisingly challenging with the addition of different stances that made some of us look like pretzels. There was one woman who came in that I knew would be someone to keep an eye on. She walked in with her down jacket, braving the icy low 60’s outside, marched over and grabbed four mats. Four. And took about six minutes nesting her area. As we went into different poses with different modifications (make it easier) or challenges (more difficult) I could hear her muttering under her breath.

“What the hell mutter mutter”

“You gotta be kiddin’”

“Do what?”

Downward facing what?”

“No one can do that!”

Constant commentary. As we are standing as “Tree” with our foot against our other leg, arms outstretched to the ceiling, totally in the moment, focused…

“TIMBER!”

she dramatically falls to the side.

The entire forest rocked back and forth and most of us followed her lead. Several women were obviously getting annoyed and either moved away from her or left class completely.

At one point, lying on our stomachs during a back strengthening exercise, the instructor, Sheila, says “arch your back, lifting your feet off the ground, straight legs, shoulders off the ground, arms outstretched, and…

pull your belly button off the ground.”

I knew immediately that this was going to be an issue.

Instantly I could see in the mirror that her head flew back and forth looking at everyone and trying to see what they were doing with this information.

Back to the floor.....and again....

“pull your belly button off the ground.”

“what the hell does that mean? Is anyone pulling their belly button off the ground?! How do you pull your belly button off the ground?!” Loud. Obviously frustrated. So very NOT yoga.

Sheila tried to explain, through this woman’s exaggerated exhales that the abs.....
“the ass?”
no ma’am, the abs are tightened so that you are pulling your belly button to your spine.

The woman rolled her eyes and withdrew into child’s pose – appropriately - until the end of class. Crouched on the ground like a little turtle, the muttering and grumbling did not stop. She made a beeline for Sheila after the class. I did manage to get up to Sheila and let her know that I thought the class was great, which I think she appreciated since the grumbler was letting her have it.

Yoga isn’t for everyone. I am competitive, very competitive but I have found in this class that not competing with my classmates makes the class so much more enjoyable. Like you are the only one there. So very freeing. I think the woman looked around and felt she wasn’t doing as well as everyone else. I think she tried something and got upset when she couldn’t do it like everyone else – in her mind anyway because hardly anyone can do it. It’s hard. It goes against everything our culture is about. We are not into slow, deliberate, focused motion. I think she focused on people who have obviously been doing it for a long time, and she decided that the class wasn’t conducive to beginners. Plus, as my mom would say, she was as nutty as a fruitcake.

The mean person in me is dying for her to show up for Latin Impact.