brow and looked to my left. Rainy's fingers were doing something alright, but from my "I shouldn't be opening my eyes" squinting position, I couldn't for the life of me tell what it was.
I screwed up my face and tried to concentrate on opening my left eye a little more to see what sort of tiny pretzel Rainy had twisted her fingers into. I'm pretty sure I made a face like an ogre to do so, but I finally figured out that she had her thumb and pointer finger pressed together.
I put my fingers into position and took a deep breath.
Nope, uncomfortable. Holding my fingers like that gave me a thumb cramp. I looked back over to Anna's put-a-cookie-here version. That didn't look much better. I pressed my lips together and thought for a second before I settled back on the Spock version. I liked it and that guy was pretty zen, right?
"Okay, come onto all fours, please." Lizzy's voice buzzed in my ears. I grappled with the mat for a second, while I tried to get it to release my feet from its sticky grabby-ness. Finally, I maneuvered into a position Lizzy called Cow. My stomach poured forward and I almost felt a "moooooo" coming on. Super flattering. Whose idea was it to call a position Cow?
We moved back and forth through Cat and Cow for a few minutes. I tried to breathe long and fluid like Rainy and Anna, but by the third go through I felt like I was hyperventilating. We did a few other stretchy things that felt pretty good, but I had an itching suspicion I would be a lot better at them if I didn't have this spare tire sitting around my middle.
"Thread your right arm under your left and stretch out your shoulder," Lizzy said. I watched her and the rest of the class move into position.
I reached my right arm under, flipping my hair to get it out of my eye and -- Ouch! The flip tweaked a muscle in my neck and a lighting strike of pain sliced down it. I fell the rest of the way forward, onto my face.
At that moment I wondered who'd used my mat before me. Was this Anna's or some grotty class lender? Heat spread from the tightness in my neck and radiated down my shoulder. I couldn't move. Shit, was I paralyzed? Did that happen in yoga?
"Change to the other side."
I begged my neck to work as everyone started to untwist themselves; they were all about to look my way. Finally, my prayers were answered and I picked my face up, moving through the ache, flexing my neck to one side then the other. Thank Jesus, I wasn't paralyzed -- oh, wait, I was in yoga class. Thank... Buddha? I stretched my left arm under my right and used my hand to move my hair out of my eyes this time.
"Settle back into your first downward dog."
I looked around and smiled. I'd seen this pose. Easy. I poked my butt up in the air and stretched my arms forward. I tried to make my body into a tiny mountain like Lizzy's, but my arms really didn't want to straighten out.
That's when my fingers started slipping. I thought this damn mat was supposed to be sticky. I watched in horror as my hands slid an inch, then two. I picked up one at a time and wiped the sweat off on my shirt.
The second I placed them down, they started the slow evil slide all over again. I grumbled a few swear words under my breath and turned my head to watch Anna. She looked as steady and unmovable as an actual mountain. On the other side Rainy held super still, too. Damn. Was I the only one in the class whose sticky mat had lost its stick?
"Move forward into plank."
Thank God, something different. I watched Lizzy move her body into a push-up position. I gulped, but reminded myself it was okay. I could do it. As long as we weren't going to do any push-ups. I shimmied my body into position. After only about one second of holding the position, however, my arms started to shake under me. Like a horse shaking its skin to get rid of a fly, but instead, my arms were trying to get rid of me. I could almost hear them complain. We can't hold her! What is she thinking?
The class started to heat up. We were
I screwed up my face and tried to concentrate on opening my left eye a little more to see what sort of tiny pretzel Rainy had twisted her fingers into. I'm pretty sure I made a face like an ogre to do so, but I finally figured out that she had her thumb and pointer finger pressed together.
I put my fingers into position and took a deep breath.
Nope, uncomfortable. Holding my fingers like that gave me a thumb cramp. I looked back over to Anna's put-a-cookie-here version. That didn't look much better. I pressed my lips together and thought for a second before I settled back on the Spock version. I liked it and that guy was pretty zen, right?
"Okay, come onto all fours, please." Lizzy's voice buzzed in my ears. I grappled with the mat for a second, while I tried to get it to release my feet from its sticky grabby-ness. Finally, I maneuvered into a position Lizzy called Cow. My stomach poured forward and I almost felt a "moooooo" coming on. Super flattering. Whose idea was it to call a position Cow?
We moved back and forth through Cat and Cow for a few minutes. I tried to breathe long and fluid like Rainy and Anna, but by the third go through I felt like I was hyperventilating. We did a few other stretchy things that felt pretty good, but I had an itching suspicion I would be a lot better at them if I didn't have this spare tire sitting around my middle.
"Thread your right arm under your left and stretch out your shoulder," Lizzy said. I watched her and the rest of the class move into position.
I reached my right arm under, flipping my hair to get it out of my eye and -- Ouch! The flip tweaked a muscle in my neck and a lighting strike of pain sliced down it. I fell the rest of the way forward, onto my face.
At that moment I wondered who'd used my mat before me. Was this Anna's or some grotty class lender? Heat spread from the tightness in my neck and radiated down my shoulder. I couldn't move. Shit, was I paralyzed? Did that happen in yoga?
"Change to the other side."
I begged my neck to work as everyone started to untwist themselves; they were all about to look my way. Finally, my prayers were answered and I picked my face up, moving through the ache, flexing my neck to one side then the other. Thank Jesus, I wasn't paralyzed -- oh, wait, I was in yoga class. Thank... Buddha? I stretched my left arm under my right and used my hand to move my hair out of my eyes this time.
"Settle back into your first downward dog."
I looked around and smiled. I'd seen this pose. Easy. I poked my butt up in the air and stretched my arms forward. I tried to make my body into a tiny mountain like Lizzy's, but my arms really didn't want to straighten out.
That's when my fingers started slipping. I thought this damn mat was supposed to be sticky. I watched in horror as my hands slid an inch, then two. I picked up one at a time and wiped the sweat off on my shirt.
The second I placed them down, they started the slow evil slide all over again. I grumbled a few swear words under my breath and turned my head to watch Anna. She looked as steady and unmovable as an actual mountain. On the other side Rainy held super still, too. Damn. Was I the only one in the class whose sticky mat had lost its stick?
"Move forward into plank."
Thank God, something different. I watched Lizzy move her body into a push-up position. I gulped, but reminded myself it was okay. I could do it. As long as we weren't going to do any push-ups. I shimmied my body into position. After only about one second of holding the position, however, my arms started to shake under me. Like a horse shaking its skin to get rid of a fly, but instead, my arms were trying to get rid of me. I could almost hear them complain. We can't hold her! What is she thinking?
The class started to heat up. We were
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