(no pun intended, as you will soon "get"...!)
For almost 90 minutes this morning, I participated in my very first *"real" yoga class.
With a *"real" teacher, that is...
(ie: *not the cute rubber band man that is Rodney Yee "teaching" me through often garbled 20 yr. old VHS tapes).
I was so excited, having longed to begin a regular yoga practice for years now...
but still had a few niggling fears about trying this class...
First, it was being held at a local rec center...brand new and beautiful inside, but still...not a "real" yoga studio...(yeah, i have some issues with things i consider to be "real" and things i fear to be,well, not as good as the "real" thing, huh?!)
So would it be possible to have the "real yoga studio" ambiance that I had imagined where you "go do" yoga to have?
(which was certainly NOT my living room floor with the liklihood of a dog toy or two being under me or even a dog or three climbing over me at any given moment! Strike 2 for Rodney...!)
(and yes, I DO realize that yoga is something you can "do" pretty much anywhere and is in fact more of a state of mind or way of "being" than "doing", but hey, this was my first "real" time and I wanted it to be like I imagined, truth be told!)
And I had taken a dance class at this rec center a few months ago...which would have been fine because I actually really liked the particular dance and the challenge it presented and the way my body felt doing it and I was really interested in expanding my learning of it...
except that the teacher was better at showing off than she was at teaching...
So I really did NOT want to go through that frustrating experience again-of really enjoying and wanting to learn something but having the teacher be not a very good teacher...which makes me a not very good (or happy or able to learn) student.
I mean, lets face it, my interest in physical activity is rather small & limited, and I did not want to have to put another somewhat rare "longed for" learning on the shelf from disappointment after getting up the nerve to give it a try!
(and yes, i know that there are thousands of bellydancing & yoga classes available. But this particular place happens to be VERY convienient for me-a non-driver-to get to at the particular time the classes are held)
ANYWAY...
YAY!
My teacher, "M" was EXACTLY who/how I hoped she would be!
(When I saw on the course info that she had been teaching ypga "for over 30 years", I must admit I did have a shameful moment of relief that my first "real" teacher would not be some little pretzel young enough to be my daughter. Nothing personal, I just know my trying-new-things-and-hoping-to-not-look & feel-too-much-like-a- too-old-to-be-trying-this-you-big-idiot limitations.)
Not that I am in terrible shape (for my age), and I do have experience/a history (albiet kinda ancient now) of dance, gymnastics, cheerleading, etc. and have been told that I am "bendy"-ala/to quote Phoebe, my alter-ego/soul sister from "Friends"...but the most bending I do these days is probably during my
Anyway..."M" was dressed head to toe in purple, (literally-from a purple scrunchie in her silvery hair to her purple painted toenails), and all of the yoga "extras" she brought for our comfort (and success!), such as blankets, pillows, straps, blocks, etc., were in someshade or design of purple.
I was instantly smitten and in adoration of this woman and her declaration of all of THIS
for us!
She greeted & welcomed us, and her voice was a flowing river, washing over the rocks of my soul...and soothing any trepidations I might have had.
(and it helped that the 3 other "students" were a tad older than me!)
(ummm...pretty sure I was in the right place, and not at the Senior Center next door...lol!)
She turned the lights out.
And the soothing music on.
And about 90 minutes later, I left feeling awash with calm and light-on-my-feet and energized and zombie-like, all at once!
I was so calm that I even sort of chuckled at my Phoebe-like move of getting on the wrong second connecting bus to return home and heading back to where I had just come from, so I had to get off at the next stop and wait for the correct bus, which normally would have sent me into panic/you're such a dipshit mode...! (I really do need to start paying better attention to the location shown on the bus marquee, not just the bus number!)
So as it turns out...I can't wait until NEXT Thursday at 10:30 am!
(I might just have to sneak in a little rendezvous with Rodney in the meantime!...now if he only wore purple spandex shorts while sun salutating on that dreamy tropical beach...!)
So that is my "art" for today...
a very:
HAPPY ME-LAURIE Z...
doing
("real")
YOGA!
(oh yeah and here is a photo I took just beyond the bus stop I get off at to head home...
now that is some "real" art...courtesy of Mother Nature! :)
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