Bikram Yoga Can Be Fun

I competed in a golf tournament. My team mate asked me to read the putting-line. I told her I didn't function that way. That I played on my instinct. I won the competition and that same night I decided to practice bikram yoga with more instinct and less focus. To go into the hot room and actually have fun!

I carried on my resolution: I am going to let my mind wander and enjoy. So I dreamed of the waterfalls of Utah when we were instructed to stand under the waterfall of gravity. When we were asked to go into a backbend,  I remembered being afraid of backdiving into Lake Chaplain in Vermont under the guidance of a Swedish counselor.  Sitting Japanese style threw me into my Murikami world, both the artist Takashi with his kaleidoscope of colors and Haruki's latest manga like novel 1Q84.

Crazy juxtaposition of images: camels and rabbits (Alice!) The funniest is when the instructor recommends we take easy take-offs and landings in "Airplane": I think of the frenzy of the airplane cabin, of the tradition only my kids and I have of clapping at safe landings. Then there is the Paranormal Activity position when we imagine being dragged by the leg....I have laughed about that in a former blog and predictably and automatically laugh about it in each class.

I was assaulted by artistic references by Mona Hatoum when I positioned myself in warrior pose and Matisse's blue collage in our final twist. On my bright blue yoga mat cover, traces of me are left like an Yves Klein art project.

My youngest always thinks that I go to yoga slumber parties because he doesn't see me till I wake him up the next morning. This time, it did have that sense of fun!