abducted by aliens

on my way home from work yesterday evening, i called my sister, who was likewise homeward bound. i asked her if she wanted to meet me for dinner. to which she immediately replied:

who are you and what did you do with my sister??? you can't be the joni i know -- there's no way she would be skipping her daily yoga class!!

i laughed and assured her that i hadn't been abducted by aliens. i was suffering from the usual two-days-post-marathon soreness in my quads and had a difficult time walking normally; the pain caused by just thinking about knee bends was enough to make me give up any plans of taking a class that day. since trying to walk off the stiffness in my legs seemed like a better option, i ended up meeting her in westwood, where we both spent the next hour or so walking around and chatting over a leisurely meal.

and the scary thing was that i actually caught myself thinking: this is way more fun than taking a yoga class...

oh my god... could it be true? had aliens actually abducted the real me?!?

when i woke up the next morning, i wondered if it all had just been a bad dream. how could i even think that anything else was more fun than yoga? (i can't believe i just said that. now i'm really scaring myself!)

anyway, back to my old yogic self, i made a quick getaway from my physical therapy appointment this afternoon to get to the lululemon store at the third street promenade for hillary rubin's 7pm yoga class. i guess i must have been a bit too anxious to get there on time; i made it with thirty minutes to spare. trying hard to control the urge to shop, i checked the yoga studio postings and chatted with the sales associates, but it was inevitable -- i spotted a cute yoga mat bag and couldn't find it in me to put it back on the shelf. ten minutes and $20 (plus tax) later, i found myself toting a lulu shopping bag with my new acquisition neatly folded up inside.

just then, hillary walked in and introduced me to a friend whom she brought along with her. turns out that CC (or was it CJ? why is it so hard for me to remember names?) was there to play a tibetan singing bowl during savasana at the end of the class. muy cool.

in true anusara fashion, hillary started the class talking about the theme for our class: yoga and emotions and boundaries. and all throughout the class, while no one really got emotional (at least not outwardly), we all had the chance to explore our boundaries. during our short sixty minute session, we were given the chance to see how far we could expand our arms, our legs, our hearts. even our fingers and toes were actively reaching out towards infinity.

and what's an anusara class without the usual student demonstrations as well as partner work featuring -- but of course -- handstands! but rather than having our partners merely help lift our hips and legs into a vertical position, hillary had us do something i'd never done before. it went something like this: while i assumed a modified standing split, my partner stood beside me and gently supported my outstretched leg with her hand. pushing against her hand with that leg, i lifted the opposite leg, and when it was close to vertical, she lifted up the leg she was holding on to until i was in full handstand position. ta da! if all handstands could only be that easy...

i just found out that hillary will be teaching an arm balance class next month at city yoga. is it possible that i may find myself executing a proper bakasana just as easily? it sure sounds like something worth looking into, doesn't it?

as for the ongoing series of wednesday night yoga classes at lulu santa monica, the instructors scheduled to teach this month are:
march 14 - rich tola
march 21 - julie carmen
march 28 - peter gehre (as usual, i'm not sure if i got his name correct)

all classes will start at 7pm, are an hour long, and as with all lulu community events, they're FREE!

since i've never taken classes with any of them before, i'm going to try to make those dates, unless i'm abducted (once again?) by aliens, body snatchers, or what have you...