Yoga Love Affair

I love yoga, but sometimes I skip class. That was my plan tonight, but it didn't work out that way and I'm glad.

I have two friends that attend yoga with me and one of them planned to skip yoga today because she was stressed out about some personal life stuff, said she needed time to go home and deal with some things. My initial reaction was "Oh, Ok. That's too bad. What's going on?" because honestly, I had been planning to skip class, too. I was relieved I wouldn't disappoint her by not showing.

But then I thought about it and I decided skipping class was a bad idea because she was stressed. People need energy to deal with things that are stressful. "Wait, wait, wait," I said. "You're stressed out, right? Ok, forget this skipping class business. You need yoga." We both see yoga as a stress reliever - a spiritually cleansing and energizing activity. I wasn't being presumptuous. My friend agreed yoga was a good idea, but only if I went. That's how I ended up in class instead of being lazy at home.

It turned out to be a really good class and was packed full of people, including another friend of mine who goes to the class. I arrived late due to a visit in the membership office that I forgot I was going to have to do, so when I got to class it was already going. The energy was already high, it was warm in the room and the air smelled like... well the air smelled of sweat. At first, I felt bad being late, but the energy in the room helped me get into the motions very quickly and I enjoyed the class very much.

For myself and my friends, yoga is a tool to calm a hectic life. It's an outlet for negative energy. I'm hardly amazing at the poses. I lose my balance, I fall, I can't reach my hands or stretch far enough, but I laugh and smile and try anyway. Yoga settles me, it grounds me and it's exercise I enjoy, regardless of how "good" I am at the positions because it's not about the positions or whether you can do the things the person next to you can manage.

It's about the journey you take while in the class, it's about the effort you make while trying to reach those positions, it's about dragging your friend to class when they're in a bad mood because you know it's good for them. It's about falling, laughing, standing and trying again. It's about the energy in the room, the moment you're in and it's about leaving all the negativity of the world, of your world and your life at the door.

I heart yoga.