I was pleased to find out that the yoga class was in the
other church hall – not the hall of the church I have stopped going to. (I
really just wanted to sing ‘How Great Thou Art’ once a week and try and put
myself into a spiritual zone. I didn’t want to join the 5 a side team or go on
long walks in the country.)
It had been a squeeze when the class was held in the local
gym – the clank of the free weights and the sound of MTV had rattled my karma.
I was pleased to see more men at the new class. I was even
more pleased to see that they were older than me and that the teacher had to
give them special attention and kind words of encouragement.
I usually get near the front of the class, so that I don’t
have to peer out past somebody’s rear-end to see what the teacher is
demonstrating. The ‘Downward Dog’
position is then useful – as I can look back through my legs to see the older
guys struggling. This heartens me.
I’m not proud of this.
I was the same during my finals at university. I went into a
‘History of Ideas’ paper with little preparation – but when the young man
beside me burst into tears half-way through the allotted time I found myself perversely
inspired. Using the few quotes I could recall from ‘Freud Made Simple’, I was
able to spin out my thoughts onto several supplementary sheets.
The yoga teacher is a better person. With an expression that
showed genuine concern, she uttered words that caressed the strugglers and put
me to shame:
‘Just do what you can. Remember – every snowflake is
different.’