21 Day Yoga Challenge: Day 4
Yoga
(c)Melanie Parish, 2013
I figured out a play-date for my kids and am feeling so excited about being able to do some yoga today before I drive to an event in Stratford for my daughter Sela’s school. I am excited about having an evening with her. She called yesterday and said she was free earlier and I could come see her before the event, but I decided to honor my commitment to yoga and myself and keep my yoga date.
I get to class right before it starts and find a spot on the floor. I breathe and lie on my mat and I don’t quite feel like I have enough time before class starts. I want more time to lie down and breathe. Class starts in a new way and I realize I don’t know what class I am in. I keep up through the first poses and I realize I am able to reach my hands behind my thighs in a way I couldn’t even yesterday. Isn’t that nifty, I think to myself.
Then class gets really hard. I can’t keep up. I still have no idea what the class is but I am completely intimidated. I try to do enough to get a work-out but have to spend a fair bit of time on my back on the mat. The teacher asks me twice if I am okay. I say yes, and I am, but I am feeling some shame that I can’t keep up. It is a mild shame–if that makes sense. The gap between these people and me is so great that it shames me until I get really humble. I decide I am okay exactly where I am and it is okay that I am on my journey. I try more poses and actually realize I have done more in this class than in any other class–I am getting better. Then my shoulders get sore and my knee starts to hurt. The voice of the teacher from the first day comes back, “It should never hurt,” she said.
Time to stop, I think. I sink into my mat and finally relax. I wake up as people start to leave. I realize that I have had a fantastically refreshing nap.
I am feeling some fatigue from the 4 days straight of yoga, single parenting for a couple of days, and our generally busy lives. I am not sure how I am going to get to yoga tomorrow. I have the kids and they have activities. Maybe I can make it while the kids play iPod in the car? Surely it will work out.
