Yoga...WHY?

In our world today we are faced with many hard to swallow truths; taxes are looming, a new president is steadying himself to end a war and the failing economy is shooting its pistol at our feet. The last thing that many of us might find at the top of our to-do lists is…RELAX. Relax? How? Friends, family and business associates are feeling the crunch left and right. Jobs are being lost, stocks crashing, and dreams falling to the wayside while we scramble to figure out what to simply do next. How could relaxing be an important priority or even a possibility in this climate?

I think of these things as I force myself to my second yoga class. Having just gotten over the flu, and previously a sinus infection that felt more like a bulldozer doing wheelies on my brain, I walk with my head held admittedly low and roll out my mat onto the gym room floor. I was a little worried because my neck had been bothering me for a couple of days, and I feared perhaps yoga would push me even further into feeling injury or pain.

As class begins I am immediately reminded of yoga’s principal to mind the breath and listen to your body. When thoughts are racing and chores are being set aside for this one 75 minute slice of life, it’s hard to not feel a little guilty taking time out to feed my soul with a little yoga love.

My breath. I find it, and listen intently to the teacher’s instructions as we move together as a class…like spokes on a wheel that are all supposed to roll together to make the wheel go round. Yet we have our own agendas, skills levels, and let’s face it…relaxation is a skill. I am starting to feel stress, to worry that together we won’t roll.

It only takes a few minutes for me to remember how wonderful I felt at the end of last week’s class. I surrender my worries, doubts and thoughts into this class of other citizens attempting to shed their stress even if only briefly.

Again I find my breath. The only constant in this fast paced world and in our ever-moving bodies. What happened almost immediately was I felt peace and calm. Sure, I heard the rushing of the cars outside on Ventura Boulevard. I heard the bang-bang-bang of some work being done down below. I even heard the gym staff watering the plants outside as the group of us breathed in, breathed out….and let go for a few brief moments.

Then, I head IT. It wasn’t the miscellaneous fart or bodily function I had bitten my nails about hearing before ever embarking on the yoga adventure. It was….orgasm sounds. A man to my right was making…what I could only classify as moans and groans of something that should not be heard outside of the bedroom.

Granted, he was “letting it all out” and in his own way “relaxing” but I felt really unnerved by these loud exalting moans made by a complete stranger. Who needs to “moan” while you’re in a yoga class?? I fixated on those sounds, and allowed it to interfere with my task of relaxing.

I wondered if anyone else was as offended as I was. I wondered if I would be able to return if Orgasm Man was to be in each class after that. Suddenly, I found myself thinking about work tomorrow, and all of the work I had missed being sick last week. I was thinking about how I had skipped cardio to do this class. And I was anxious.

But then, I looked over at Orgasm Man as I was doing my inversion poses. I was waving my legs up, down, open, closed, back and forward while holding my body up with my hands. I became distinctly aware of what a miracle it was for me to be in this pose, and to feel……to feel……nothing in my neck. No pain.

The look on his face was pure delight. It was relief. It was a look of being totally content.  So I released the feelings of angst I had for this stranger. Here he was just a man, attempting to do the impossible; relax in an impossible time to do so. And I felt a rush of pride for him.

Did this mean that I was too uptight? That I would have to learn to release my feelings of insecurity and someday I would be making blissful she-orgasm sounds of my own?  I concentrated on the positive things I could hear outside. I heard a little bird chirping in the tree. I heard other people simply allowing themselves to breath in the class. And I made a conscious effort to let go of Orgasm Man and let him do his thing. Who was I to judge??

When class was over I once again found myself completely limber, energized and cough, sputter, cough…….relaxed. RELAXED. Me!

So I guess I’m going to have to get used to the various aspects of letting go. It might include hearing what should be forbidden sounds from my neighbors as I stand in Warrior Pose. One thing is for sure, it’s quite a relief and no less than a miracle these days to see a group of people gathered together to consciously relax.

Taxes, the economy, potholes and rising interest rates are all reality…why shouldn’t letting go be one too?

Give yoga a try and you just might be surprised by how far “Relaxing” climbs to the top of your priority list.

CW

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