Lady Lavender: Divinity in progress...

Day 4: Kundalini

I've never tried it nor heard of it but, it said on the schedule that it was a level I class. Great! Good for beginners although I'm starting to feel like an ol' pro. I actually understand some of the words. My favorite sound so far has been "Tadasanah." No matter the spelling - It just feels good when I stand up and think, Tada! I'm doing it!

I liked that in the last class, at the end the instructor thanked me for coming and he commented on how well I had done. Maybe that's small and trivial but, it made me feel really confident and good about having been there. I started to realize the importance of thanking my body for having done well too. If I consciously feel that way when somebody thanks me, then my body must feel the same when I thank it.

Time for class: The woman is a bright eyed older lady with slightly curly red locks. We were a small class that night so I felt like I did during the first night, a little timid, a little like I'm intruding on their space. However, that all changed when the instructor saw me before class started, she came over and introduced herself. She made it known that I was welcomed and she hoped I would enjoy the class. That simple little gesture instantly made me feel like I was part of the group and not a shadow on the wall looking in. It made me think of the old dracula movies as in order for a vampire to come in to your home, he/she had to be invited. Silly, I know but then again, I do have a very vivid imagination.

I went in and what I noticed was that everyone had two blankets and had folded one over their mat while the other was in the position for sitting on. I pretended I knew what I was doing and happily walked over to get another blanket. I sat an waited just like everyone else, not knowing what to expect though. My classmates consisted of older European guy, maybe Dutch, German or Norwegian as his accent sounded familiar to me. He was perhaps in his 60's or 70's, adorned himself with large round black glasses and had his shirt tucked in to his modern day daisy duke shorts. I smiled a bit but not to laugh at him, rather in knowing that someday, I'd be as old as he was and hopefully I'd still be doing yoga. I said to myself, I'm glad he is here.

On the other side of me were the younger people, an African guy perhaps, at least judging from his accent he sounded Nigerian maybe. He was definitely a college student, another middle aged Indian woman, and finally a American guy with a good ol' southern drawl. I was slightly tickled again at the fact that we had people from all walks of life and previously, I'd always thought yoga was just another trend sparked by some celebrity. People did it because it got popular in Hollywood and to see these people here, that helped break that idea. In my mind, I thanked them all for being present with me.

The next thing we did was what I thought was a warm up of breathing exercises. We did that quite sometime plus a little bit of chanting. Sat naam I think we said a few times and we even sang a short mantra. Very cool . I could feel my energy opening up or coming in. It was nice.

After we finished this segment of breathing, I realized that the Kundalini was all about breathing. I especially liked that the instructor paid more attention to me since she knew that I was the new kid on the block. She was always looking and I felt like even though she was across the room, that somehow she was tutoring me as we went along. A few times she came over to make sure I was breathing correctly and her moving around the room helped a lot. She remembered me and it made me feel accepted.

We did a lot of movement with something similar to the breath of fire I believe it was, plus maybe some pranayama. Excuse me if I mix up terms at the moment, but I'm still learning. I know I had to breathe really forcefully - exhale push out, inhale push in. It was neat but I got a little light headed and had to stop. We even breathed out of one nostril at a time which seemed to make a difference in my breathing. Very interesting how that works.

Anyway, we continued doing all sorts of things - not too much physical movement but when we did it, boy - we did it! We did it quick and fast to match our breathing. I could only get about 5 of the 10 repetitions that we'd do before my muscles said, no way! I did what I could and kept going as long as possible. I broke a sweat just by breathing! How was that possible? I thought to myself. Finally the end came and shavasanah was much welcomed. My body was tired yet very refreshed. I was breathing well and it seemed like I was breathing in clean air. I was glad to see everyone, even though I had never met them. It's amazing what a little gratitude can do to change your mood.

I didn't stay for the fruits this time but as I was walking out the instructor asked me how did it go. I told her how I felt, great, relaxed, and like I'd had a fantastic workout. She was glad to hear it and I was glad to tell her, thank you.

I will perhaps revist this class again. I left to go straight home as I was super tired. When I got home though, I really needed some tea. I decided that chamomille tea was going to be the best. I never crave tea but I wanted some chamomille and I couldn't figure out why. My roomate comes home and tells me, perhaps I just needed some comfort. When she said I thought, yes! That's it. I had a craving for warm arms all around me and wanted the love to flow through and out to the world. I didn't have anyone with me so, the body pillow had to make due. I drank my tea and then, I laid my head on the pillow. I think I was out before I took even 10 breaths.

I woke that morning with a very strange excited energy. I was happy to be alive and I was glad to see the morning come. Again, I had the gayatri mantra stuck in my head and off to youtube clicked my mouse. Today could only bring happy thoughts and amazing changes. I was ready to tackle work. Today was the first day that someone at work asked me if I had been loosing weight! Yay!