he couldn’t compete with the other man.
“Now exhale as you bend forward and touch your toes.”
Derek’s mind skittered back to the image of Sambit bent double. He kept his breathing steady, trying to focus on the yoga rather than on his instructor. He bent forward, groaning at the stretch down the backs of his legs. To his dismay, he couldn’t even touch his toes without bending his knees.
“Right leg back into a lunge,” Sambit directed, moving in time with his words. Derek imitated Sambit’s stance. “Now the other leg, into a plank.”
About the time his shoulders started burning from holding the pushup position, Derek gave up watching Sambit and concentrated on breathing and not making a fool of himself. He pushed his hips up into the position Sambit called Down Dog, pulled his leg forward for another lunge, returned to the toe touch position, and stood, arching his back again before returning to the prayer position where they’d started. “Holy fuck. That hurts.”
“You are stiff,” Sambit said. “That’s why. It should feel good, energizing, not painful.”
“I obviously need more practice, then,” Derek said, slumping back onto his cot.
“Then we should practice,” Sambit insisted. “Up. Two minutes is not enough to help your state of mind or your state of body. We will do it four more times, and then we’ll decide what to do next.”
“Can’t I just go for a run?” Derek asked.
“Where?” Sambit countered. “You can’t go outside because of the radiation, and we don’t know that the rest of this building is any safer. You can do this right here without any extra space or equipment. It might not be ideal, but I assure you I can arrange as hard a workout for you as you would like.”
“I believe it,” Derek said, levering himself off the cot again. “All right. Fifteen minutes. We’ll do fifteen minutes of yoga and we’ll see how I feel then.”
“Half an hour would be better,” Sambit said. “You wouldn’t go for a fifteen-minute run.”
“I would if I’d never been a runner before and didn’t have any stamina,” Derek said. “Just remember I’ve never done this before.”
“I’ll take it easy on you,” Sambit promised, “as long as you don’t take it easy on yourself.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that it’s possible to go through the motions in yoga without investing yourself in it,” Sambit explained. “Or you can do something simple like the Salute to the Sun with great concentration and effort and get a good workout in a few minutes. Yoga is as much about your mind as it is about your body.”
“So you’ll agree to do poses that are relatively uncomplicated if I promise to concentrate on doing them right?” Derek verified.
“Exactly.”
They did four more repetitions of the Salute to the Sun Sambit had started with. By the time that was done, Derek was breathing hard, the muscles in his legs protesting the unfamiliar exercise.
“Five more minutes,” Derek reminded Sambit.
“We will concentrate on balance, then,” Sambit said. “The poses are not hard. Holding them requires great focus, and that is what will take your mind off everything that has brought negative energy into your life in the past few days.”
Derek was skeptical, but he lifted one foot in imitation of Sambit’s pose, resting it on the inside of his other knee as he lifted his hands above his head and tried to keep his balance.
“Find a place on the other wall, a vertical line works best, and look only at that,” Sambit directed. “Nothing exists but that one spot.”
Derek focused on the edge of the soda machine and found that his body suddenly felt steadier. “How the hell does that work?” he asked.
“Concentrate,” Sambit replied simply. “Hold that pose.”
Derek looked back to the soda machine and concentrated.
“Now switch legs.”
That side wasn’t nearly as easy, even with the vertical line. Derek had to put his foot down several
“Now exhale as you bend forward and touch your toes.”
Derek’s mind skittered back to the image of Sambit bent double. He kept his breathing steady, trying to focus on the yoga rather than on his instructor. He bent forward, groaning at the stretch down the backs of his legs. To his dismay, he couldn’t even touch his toes without bending his knees.
“Right leg back into a lunge,” Sambit directed, moving in time with his words. Derek imitated Sambit’s stance. “Now the other leg, into a plank.”
About the time his shoulders started burning from holding the pushup position, Derek gave up watching Sambit and concentrated on breathing and not making a fool of himself. He pushed his hips up into the position Sambit called Down Dog, pulled his leg forward for another lunge, returned to the toe touch position, and stood, arching his back again before returning to the prayer position where they’d started. “Holy fuck. That hurts.”
“You are stiff,” Sambit said. “That’s why. It should feel good, energizing, not painful.”
“I obviously need more practice, then,” Derek said, slumping back onto his cot.
“Then we should practice,” Sambit insisted. “Up. Two minutes is not enough to help your state of mind or your state of body. We will do it four more times, and then we’ll decide what to do next.”
“Can’t I just go for a run?” Derek asked.
“Where?” Sambit countered. “You can’t go outside because of the radiation, and we don’t know that the rest of this building is any safer. You can do this right here without any extra space or equipment. It might not be ideal, but I assure you I can arrange as hard a workout for you as you would like.”
“I believe it,” Derek said, levering himself off the cot again. “All right. Fifteen minutes. We’ll do fifteen minutes of yoga and we’ll see how I feel then.”
“Half an hour would be better,” Sambit said. “You wouldn’t go for a fifteen-minute run.”
“I would if I’d never been a runner before and didn’t have any stamina,” Derek said. “Just remember I’ve never done this before.”
“I’ll take it easy on you,” Sambit promised, “as long as you don’t take it easy on yourself.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that it’s possible to go through the motions in yoga without investing yourself in it,” Sambit explained. “Or you can do something simple like the Salute to the Sun with great concentration and effort and get a good workout in a few minutes. Yoga is as much about your mind as it is about your body.”
“So you’ll agree to do poses that are relatively uncomplicated if I promise to concentrate on doing them right?” Derek verified.
“Exactly.”
They did four more repetitions of the Salute to the Sun Sambit had started with. By the time that was done, Derek was breathing hard, the muscles in his legs protesting the unfamiliar exercise.
“Five more minutes,” Derek reminded Sambit.
“We will concentrate on balance, then,” Sambit said. “The poses are not hard. Holding them requires great focus, and that is what will take your mind off everything that has brought negative energy into your life in the past few days.”
Derek was skeptical, but he lifted one foot in imitation of Sambit’s pose, resting it on the inside of his other knee as he lifted his hands above his head and tried to keep his balance.
“Find a place on the other wall, a vertical line works best, and look only at that,” Sambit directed. “Nothing exists but that one spot.”
Derek focused on the edge of the soda machine and found that his body suddenly felt steadier. “How the hell does that work?” he asked.
“Concentrate,” Sambit replied simply. “Hold that pose.”
Derek looked back to the soda machine and concentrated.
“Now switch legs.”
That side wasn’t nearly as easy, even with the vertical line. Derek had to put his foot down several
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