First Yoga Experience

My friend Bogart enlisted me to attend a yoga class today. As we were running late 'coz I can't stop from stuffing myself with choco mousse and fried chicken at home, we briskly walked 3 blocks to the yoga place [which was said to be NEAR the MRT station but apparently NOT] under the 3pm sun AND briskly climbed three flights of stairs. Arriving to learn that the class had already started, we briskly changed into our yoga clothes and -with blood still pumping from so much brisk activities- went straight to the head-on-the-floor, ass-to-the-ceiling pose we found everyone in when we opened the magical door.

At first the sound of the yoga instructor's soft, melodic telephone-operatic voice slowly delivering commands soothed me. [Very relaxing and hypnotic indeed!] But as the activities got more intense, and without even having a moment to catch my breath from the mad dash to the place and not having the guts to excuse myself and leave the group for fear of earning collective looks of disgust from the group, I was just confined to thinking these thoughts while executing one yoga exercise after another:

1. Why am I being exhausted like this?
2. Until when will this go on?
3. What have I done and why am I being punished this way?
4. Why?
5. Blessed are the persecuted for theirs are the kingdom of heaven.
6. Sob.


Still, there are also not-so-bad moments. These are:

1. When the group arrived at the point where we were standing on our heads while our asses face the sky. --I was distracted and was calmed for a while by the image of our huge upside down heads in the mirror connected to our not-as-prominent bodies like we were freaks of some sort. Shit! If a photographer took a picture in this angle, it would be a hit! I remembered thinking while still being fascinated by the sight of our upside down heads in the mirror. Except will he also need to execute a head stand to be able to get the perfect shot?

2. When asked to lie flat down & close our eyes --I took a nap.

Lessons Learned:
1. Come early to yoga class. [To allow time for catching breath for climbing 3 flights of stairs and walking 3 blocks]
2. Bring tight neck-lined clothing. [As I wore a loose shirt with loose neck line, I had been flashing so much during the feet-to-the-floor exercises, I should have just yogaed in my bra.]
3. Bring own stuff. [The belt the club lent me for stretching smelled like feet!]
4. Consider the time of the day and the abundance of the sun's rays before walking anywhere.