Little Boat in Greektown

Last night I went over to The Guru’s for my first real, bona fide yoga lesson. I arrived on her doorstep, late due to an unanticipated pet food run, wearing jogging pants and an old t-shrit inscribed with "Animal Miracles: I Believe." Ahem. At any rate...

Yoga. What a revelation! It’s so different from doing yoga with a video. With The Guru I got detailed instructions on how poses should feel. Videos on the other hand, leave me wondering if that searing pain through my leg is transcendental or terminal.

We did a full, gentle, comprehensive practice. I like gentle. I like comprehensive. Facials are like this. But I digress.

We started off with breathing. This has always been a big thing for me. There are times I realize I’m actually holding my breath. It’s a wonder I haven’t keeled over from oxygen deprivation. Anyway, this part is called Mudru – I think. It’s about centering yourself and preparing for practice.

Once we got breathing done, we moved into a pose called Little Boat which, if I may indulge in a moment of unfettered girlieism, I think is just the cutest name for a pose - ever. You lie on your back with your knees up and your arms lightly clasped around them. Then as you breathe in you ever so gently pull your knees towards you. It helps to limber up your lower back and hip.

We did hip rotations and The Cat, then Downward Dog, some full body twists and then finished up with the Corpse pose, which is great because you can lie down.

The Cat was a source of particular hilarity. Most of us are familiar with this pose. It’s the kind of stretch most of us first encountered in junior high school, eliciting at the time no end of smirks and stifled laughter as I recall. Why? Well you are on all fours and in synch with your breathing, rolling up and then arching your back.

“Stick that tailbone in the air people!”

This is the kind of thing The Marine would see and remark “You know, there are plenty of Japanese business men who would pay to see this on the internet.”

After we were done I felt incredibly relaxed. It was amazing how aware I'd become of the tension I had been holding in my body. This was particularly the case with the hip rolls. I worked on my right side first. Afterwards, my left side felt like it was three inches higher and I could feel the blood rushing in my right leg.

I also liked the analogy The Guru used about the ground as a support. It really helped to think of the ground as pushing or holding me up, that it wasn’t something that was working against me.

After we were done, The Guru barbecued some Rainbow Trout, or as my Granny was so fond of saying “Burnt the arse aff it.” I prefer the term “seared” myself. It was incredibly delicious along with a salad of cucumber and tomatoes from the neighbour’s garden. Actually, The Guru confessed that she’d run out of tomatoes on one occasion and had full on raided their garden. Rightfully so I say. There are always too many damn tomatoes at the end of summer anyway.

I took the Gardiner home and passed the CNE just as the fireworks were going. It was magical, a last real taste of summer before the crispness creeps back into the air.

I woke up this morning after sleeping like the dead. I think I’m on to something here.

Namaste.