Upstate Yoga

Here's a post for Day Three of Nanowrimo, barely under the wire (having missed Day Two).

Today I went to work, got quite a bit done for five or six hours, barely stopping for lunch, then went out at around 3:30 for a walk in the soft, gray November afternoon, which was not as cold as it looked from inside. 

Came back in, got some more done, then went to yoga at 7:00. Class was hard, and fun, and very, very crowded. Barely an inch between mats. I love this studio that I've been going to here in Upstate City, but I kind of wish it weren't so popular. 

At the beginning of class I was fretting about feeling too hemmed in but then I let go, as one does in yoga class, and just focused on the poses and the particular element  that our teacher was emphasizing. (It had to do with aligning one's head and neck in a certain way.)

When A., the teacher, mentioned the dreaded word "partner pose," I quailed and considered quickly exiting the room. I usually don't mind doing the partner poses once I'm in them, but lately I have not had the courage to get past that first moment of reluctance and shyness, especially when, as tonight, the person next to me is a guy. But, fortunately, my neighbor immediately found another guy to be his partner (we were supposed to choose people with a similar level of strength in our legs) and then I saw, from the row in front of me, that K., a woman whom I've gotten to know to say hello to in this class, and who is just a lovely and friendly and sort of twinkly person, was giving me the high sign (as my father would say). So then we did the little exercise together, which I am not even going to try to explain or describe, but it was fine doing it with her, and I felt grateful to her for reaching out. 

And then pretty soon we were winding down, lying still in the darkened room for shavasana, and class was over, and I felt peaceful as I went on my way.