Spiders???

After the funk I was in yesterday, yoga class last night really got me out of it which I knew it would. I can't rave enough about my instructor, Lip, and how cool she is. She is unlike any other instructor I've taken. Her classes are pretty fun and dare I say, unorthodox. In the middle of class when she has us in an awkward, difficult pose she'll tell us a little story about her retreat house in the Catskills and chasing chickens and encountering bears in her living room. True story. Anything to keep us from thinking "I hate this pose!!" ya know? And it works!

Last night we were in, what's called "Ninja Death" (I'm sure there's an actual yoga name for it somewhere). I never heard this name before but I've done this pose many times. It is when you place your mat at the wall. Face away from the wall. Bend the right knee on the mat and place the right shin against the wall with your toes pointing up while your left leg is bent like a lunge, then you pivot your hips forward and OW you feel it in the front of your right thigh. It's a pretty intense pose (I wish I could find a picture of it). Anyway, here we are breathing very, very heavy. Lip says "Just be thankful that you're not a spider."

"What???" one of the students ask. She says, "If you were, you'd have to do this eight times." There's a pause and then a burst of laughter. I love when we have moments like that in class (which is often with this teacher). I can't explain it but at that moment I forgot about what I was feeling throughout the day and able to just be present. Hooray for not being a spider!