Mother’s day class on Sunday May 7th
My daughters Grace and Lauren used to hang out under Karin’s grand piano
while I taught or took class. They would
make nests using yoga blankets, bolsters and blocks. Karin often brought them pillows from her own
bedroom. On Mother’s Day the girls and Dan have brought me trays
with brown rice and Kukicha tea, almond butter on rice cakes, black tea with 5
drops of stevia, brown rice with ghee and roasted nuts, flowers, toast...., whatever fit with my current dietary
fetish.
One year for Mother's Day I asked if we could all ride our bikes to Karin’s 9 am class
and then ride to the High Rise Bakery for breakfast/lunch/brunch. The girls were so sweet about it. They hung
in there even though the ride was a bit harrowing and the class was full of
grown-ups. This year the girls, now teenagers, both had
a zillion things planned for Friday evening, all day Saturday and Saturday night
late, so what I really wanted was for them to sleep in, really
sleep in. That that would be a real present for me, to know that they were
getting the sleep they so needed rather than dragging themselves exhausted from
bed to take a yoga class full of old people (their parents) and then to High
Rise to OD on some sinfully sugary thing(s) and feel terrible the rest of the
day.
Instead, Dan and I got up in a
peaceful house, had some tea and went to class (by car). When we pulled up
there was a “Suburbunny” munching on grass, utterly unperturbed by our
arrival two feet away. The flowers were
glowing with sunlight we’d been pining for for weeks and the walkway to the
Loft was lush with new green shoots and dense with Dogwood and other unidentified
pink trees.
Dan and I chose our spot by the back wall and spread out our
matching green mats. The class was so
peaceful. I closed my eyes a lot, in
fact, I tend to practice with my eyes closed as much as I possibly can, when I
have the luxury of being a student in a class as well as in my home practice. I
loved being tucked away in the back corner with Dan beside me. Karin was focused and funny and elegant. Her sequence led you along in a “Oh, of
course we’re doing this pose now, perfect!” way. By the end of class I felt as
if my limbs had been ironed into silky strands and my nervous system was humming
and warm like the fridge.
