Two days ago I went to my first ever yoga class. Yoga is something I’ve wanted to do and get into for years; my desire for it started in gym class Senior year when I chose to do it instead of whatever other sport was being offered; I loved it and that following Christmas I even got a yoga mat and an instructional DVD to pursue my new found desire. But that’s about as far as I got and that was 6 years ago. Since then I never attended a class nor practiced it, but the desire was always there; occasionally it would pop up to the forefront of my mind and if I ever talked to somebody that did it I’d chime in, “I’ve always wanted to get into yoga!” I think one of the reasons why I haven’t done it in the last 4 years is because while I’ve been living in and moving to different countries the yoga was an extra cost to me; it (was not a justifiable expense)and I saw it as something I didn’t need to spend money on. I think that will change. Two nights ago I finally went to my first class.
One of the teachers that I give conversation classes to invited me to go with her. I was slightly hesitant because it was from 8-9:30, which means I wouldn’t get home until 10, then I’d have to make dinner and go to bed because I get up at 6:45 on Wednesday, but I thought, “fuck it, it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while.” In the class there were fewer people than I imagined and out of the three others, one of them happened to be a 15 year old student of mine who I had class with first period the following day. Most students are surprised to see me while walking around the center (as if I didn’t have a life outside of school) and very few have heard me speak or understand Spanish. I couldn’t imagine what she was thinking. The yoga itself was more difficult that I imagined. I consider myself flexible, I can touch the palm of my hands on the floor and hold it comfortably, but during yoga there were times when I was straining to hold the positions and couldn’t wait for a change. And that was only the warmup. Eventually my body got used to its contortions and the hour and a half flew by. By the end, I was physically tired, but relaxed. There was a peaceful calm over my body and mind; I felt as if I could have hugged everybody. Next week I’m going to try it out again.