THREE PEOPLE (A Wisdom Warriors Episode)

Before yoga, I played golf, always worked out somehow, had run one marathon, run (or walked) every morning with good friends, and worked out every day with Pete Egoscue for several months. Then, we (Howard and I) moved to Salt Lake City, where - 20 years ago - you had to search for similar activities (well, not the golf part).  BTW, Pete is a well-known fitness trainer who has authored several books, and I met him through my good friend and then-running buddy, Judy.

Long story short, we move to Salt Lake City and I stagnated; I walked my dogs, I tried running but without friends - no fun, I tried working out, but a similar boot camp to the one Pete offered was nowhere to be found in Salt Lake at that time.  (By the way, Pete's morning crew was at the forefront of what is now the exercise highlight -- the boot camp fitness workouts; who knew?)  I even tried to do it on my own, in the lower level of our home where we had outfitted an entire gym set-up. All to no avail.

Then, Howard said "try yoga".  I did, beginning at age 48.  The rest is history, and now we are back in San Diego. I never imagined (at age 62) to be telling this story:

Three people - one at front of yoga mat, one at back of mat, one lying on belly on the mat.  One securely holds shoulders of the prone person up and in, the person at back (or foot) end of mat lifts legs. The one in the middle? Staying strong thru legs, tailbone, shoulders, allows the lift to happen, then is asked to soften his/her chest (heart) back to the floor. OK, if you can imagine this, you will see a very significant backbend happen.  Whew!  That's it, that's all. But, a story doesn't have to be long to be wonderful.  (p.s. - this is best done with confident, well-trained partner(s)).

Once we did this, we did a cobra on our own.  After almost 2 hours of repeated backbend shapes, quadriceps lengtheners, a bit of jumping, etc., it was amazing!  I rarely see the ceiling in my cobras; yesterday, I can safely say I saw the ceiling in that cobra.

That was the focus of Wisdom Warriors yesterday -- backbends.  All shapes, many different forms, partner stuff, individual stuff. And, how do I feel today? So far, great. No stiffness, no aches, no pain. In fact, I wish I could do it again, today. Such an inspiring group, such great teachers.

And, as Desiree said at the end:  "No one sat back and watched; everyone participated." Yup, that's Wisdom Warriors for you. We are tenacious.

Today:  Teaching a new class in Temecula (Yoga for Life) - Therapeutic/Gentle at 12:30; then a break before my 4pm Basics class.  Mmmmm, what will I teach that group?  Backbends maybe?

Hope you have a great Thursday!