holyboogers

It’s not as easy as it looks.

Individuals balance on one foot, the other lifted into the air.   Flexibility and endurance are pushed to the extreme.  Arms raised toward the sky as deep breaths go in, go out. 

Jay has made it home for a week and offered to watch the boys tonight so I could have what we call “me time.”  My reaction?  Heck yes!  I haven’t been to the gym in over a month!  I head to the bedroom and rummage through my lower dresser drawer which is where I keep hold of my exercise clothes.  I place a pair of pants on and then pull a shirt over my body that I haven’t tried on since pre-pregnancy Noah, when I was at my smallest.  Um…yeah….a little on the smaller side.  I pull another shirt over my head and have the same issue.  I then do something that I rarely do.  I ask Jay which shirt looks better.  Asking a man a female clothing-related question is like trying to extract the lollipop my son is enjoying out his sticky grasp.  You don’t get the outcome you were hoping for.  I resign myself to the fact that I’m just simply not as small as I was before having Noah (and those women who drop the weight six months after having a baby frustrate me for sure), and choose to walk out the door in the first shirt. 

I head to the gym.  After doing a half hour of cardio which leaves me breathless and red in the face (how attractive), but also quite exhilarated, I notice that there are a few people making their way into the group fitness room.  I look at the schedule tacked to the wall and notice that a yoga class will begin in ten minutes.  Yoga?  Sure!  Why not?  I’ll give it a try! 

A minute later I’m on a mat in the middle of the floor waiting for the class to begin thinking that I’m about to experience an incredibly relaxing and easy “workout.”  Darn!  I couldn’t have been more wrong.  Just about five minutes into the class, I was asking my body to contort into positions it hasn’t been in since I was a flexible child, I’m sure.  And it didn’t let up.  The positions seemed to increase in intensity and I would find myself in Child’s Pose, knees bent and on the floor, chest upon my knees, forehead resting on the mat, hands splayed in front of my body.  I’d do this to rest.  And a rest it was.  While in Child’s Pose, I’d close my eyes and I found myself at Peace.  My body was calm and my mind was free.  I was in the moment.  I wasn’t worrying about my husband with the kids…I knew he was doing a great job and they were well taken care of.  I wasn’t thinking about the limited time I have with Jay before he’ll be heading back to Portugal.  Again.  I wasn’t thinking about anything but how incredibly good it felt to lay there just then, breathing in and out. 

When the Yoga class ended, I headed to the dressing room to retrieve my caot and car keys.  I drove to a cafe just down the street, which is where I am at the moment.  My body is sore.  Already.  I imagine I’ll be feeling the tingles tomorrow and as I am I’ll be sure to remember the great workout I got from this class.  Notice how the word is not quoted the second time I write it, for I truly did get an excellent workout in.  My body wasn’t only worked, though.  I was also able to find Peace and Calm in a super fast-paced society.  I was able to be “in the moment” with myself, which is something that I believe we all need to do each and every day. 

What a wonderful experience.

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