Candlelight Yoga

I am not a yoga person.






In the four times I had attempted yoga before last night, I never enjoyed it. It was too fast, too hard, it made me dizzy. I loved pilates but not yoga. Never yoga.

But last night I couldn't resist attending a class called "candlelight yoga." So, I gave yoga another shot. Starting at 8:45 PM, the candles were lit, each of us students got a blanket, a small cushion, a larger cushion and, of course, our mats. We lay on our mats & slowly, our instructor brought us through stretches. And I could do them!

No pose was too hard for me this time & I enjoyed the challenge of connecting to my breathing & being aware of my body. I tried to banish all other thoughts, worries, hopes, goals and concerns and focus on my body: how it felt to breathe deeply, what parts were stretching, what parts were static. It was then that I realized I had never made time to just be. I studied, I planned, I worked. But I never thought of myself as a being that could be celebrated for existing. Existing--being--never entered into my thoughts.

But in that quiet, tranquil, peaceful space I had nothing to do but think about how it felt to breathe. And it was utterly serene. I relaxed. At the end of our session, we had ten minutes to snuggle under our cozy blankets & breathe. The windows were open, the night breeze came in, the candles flickered and danced.


I will be coming back.