Yoga

I have to include this blog about an experience I had in Banepa. I met some cool people the first day and I was told about a yoga class in town. Sam and I got up at 0430 in the morning to get dressed and head to the yoga class, which started bright and early at five. It was a large room, with at least a hundred people there to join in the yoga-ing. It was all in Nepali, and there was a lot of “om”s going around, but we did our best to just follow the movements of the people on the stage and those around us; the men around me were very helpful actually, politely correcting me when I was doing something wrong.
The class, however, was a bit different. It started similar to the scene in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure where Joan of Arc takes over the aerobics class in the mall. I have to say, this is not what I was expecting from “yoga class”. There was even a portion devoted solely to putting on music and dancing. Just dancing. (I didn’t dance. I wasn’t brave enough. But I was encouraged.) There was also some laughing involved--deep breath in, and laugh at the top of your voice, repeat x 4. Granted, once you start laughing like that, it’s hard not to actually laugh at the absurdity of it. There were some sun salutations involved, and the last half hour was breath work, but other than that, I was hard pressed to find yoga, and I think it did more damage to my stretching routine than good. But it was a fun experience, laughing and dancing, and I can see how people enjoy starting their day off with it. I think I’m going to try and find a little radio here so I can put on some Nepali music each morning and dance--but dance alone in the privacy of my room where no one can see what a fool I am. You should try it too. Same effects… maybe after a few weeks of that I‘ll be brave enough to go to the course again.