My Yoga Pants Actually Went to a Yoga Class!

Parivritta Virabahdrasana- revolved warrior

Yoga pants are not just for lounging, y'all!  I actually wore them to my first yoga class yesterday.  This old dog continues to learn new tricks.  I've had yoga pants in my wardrobe for years, and have found them to be suitable for walking, watching TV, shopping, wearing after overeating, and rarely, doing yoga.  I've dabbled with yoga on occasion, but never more than 20 minutes at a time.  Yesterday, I found myself in a 90 minute yoga class, much to my surprise and delight.  It is funny how synchronicity, observing moments of meaningful significance, has blessed me time and time again.

Since I have joined HAPPIER, I have widened my circle of friends. How blessed I feel each day to know that I have Yuriko in Japan, Carol in Massachusetts, Yogi in Colorado, and Janna in Idaho, cheering me on, laughing with me, and caring about me.  One of the upsides to this wonderful website is the friendships that have been forged.

Yogi posts the most amazing pictures online of her yoga poses with uplifting quotes.  Her Enlightened Yogs blog is full of peace, joy, and enlightenment.  I jokingly told her that if we really wanted to make people smile on the Happier website, we should join her and post pictures of ourselves attempting poses.  Yogi was thrilled to have us join her in posting yoga pics, and I'm sure entertained that we would even try!  

Yogi says that SAVASANA (pronounced sha'-va-sa-na), is one of the most difficult poses.  In this position, you are completely prone, with palms upturned by your sides.  The challenge of this pose is releasing all your physical weight, as well as your emotional baggage.  Since I had mastered the PHYSICAL aspects of this pose ages ago, I displayed this picture first.  Here it is,  my first attempt at Savasana:

And then, I thought, I want to impress Yogi.  I wanted to attempt something more challenging. This is

Time for new highlights, I see.

Bakasana, the crow. I absolutely surprised myself by getting my feet off the ground, even this little bit.  It did occur to me later that this could have ended very badly.  When one isn't holding a pose for very long, I suppose anything is possible, even a semi-decent result!  The Happier crowd was very supportive, and we all had a good laugh.

When Yogi found out I would be in the Denver area, she invited my daughter and me to come to her yoga class.  How could I turn that down?  Sierra and I love trying new activities and foods together.  Mark and I have experimented with yoga DVDs in the privacy of our home, and always enjoyed our 15-20 minute sessions.  Why wouldn't I want to try an hour and a half class?  (Don't burst my bubble just yet...)

When we found found the yoga room, it was dimly lit and there were soft meditation bells playing in the background.  Yogi deftly leaped off her mat to welcome us, and with an enthusiasm that was contagious, she whispered her welcome and hugged us warmly. She had a box of German chocolates and a card for me, and a Starbucks birthday gift card for Sierra. We borrowed floor mats from the closet and settled in toward the front. The room had a calm, peaceful feeling to it.  

Our intention for our practice was love; loving everything and everyone in our lives.  I felt so peaceful, and the nagging little thoughts I'd been entertaining evaporated from my mind.  The hour and a half did not actually fly by, but passed much more quickly than I'd imagined it would.  There were a couple of poses I could not, for the life of me, hold because of strength and balance issues, but I loved the class enough to want to incorporate yoga into my life during the coming weeks.

Before we left, we took pictures with our cell phones.  Yogi suggested we try her lemon spray on our wrists, and invited us to take some HAPPIER stickers.  Of course, she did.  She is a living embodiment of all things HAPPIER.  I hope my yoga pants and I will be trying yoga much more often.  For today, I'll be wearing my comfy black yoga pants to a massage; I feel like the survivor of a great and terrible car wreck.  Oh, but it's all good in my book!

Namasté.