palace of winds

I really need to write a Poe update but I know once I start it’s going to just ramble on for ages, and the thought is a bit exhausting.

Last month, on a bit of a whim, I bought a Groupon thing for a month of unlimited yoga classes. (I had a vague idea of what Groupon was all about but hadn’t checked it out before Jocey sent me one last month. We bought coupons [groupons I guess?] to a new yummy-sounding falafely place nearby — which has now of course closed. So much for that. [We did automatically get the Groupon refunded. Still, I'd've rather had falafel.]) Last night I finally went to sign up and give it a whirl — I got out of work a little early, so had just enough time to ride and make it to the intro class at 7. I’d called ahead of time to find out what I should bring, and the woman on the phone mentioned a towel. Towel? I thought. No, I don’t need that. I’ve done yoga at home before and yeah I sweat, but not like I need a towel-off in the middle of it. They do have some hot yoga at this studio but the intro class said specifically that it wasn’t hot.

Yeah, wish I’d brought a towel. I think I was dripping from my kneecaps. I didn’t even know my kneecaps could sweat. It was great, though, and I’m really looking forward to going back. I even have a new favorite pose: Gorilla. You put your feet on your hands, toes just nudged up against your wrists, and straighten your legs to your comfort level. I hold an unbelievable amount of tension around my shoulderblades and this pose stretched at all of that. I could’ve stayed in it for hours. (Well, probably not. But it felt amazing.) One of my other favorite things about yoga is your first downward-facing dog versus your last. I love what a difference you can see after an hour.

The part I did not like was the moment of silence after the instructor invited us to dedicate our practice that evening. I’ve been really missing my grandma lately; I’m not at all okay to be thinking about it in public, and once I’ve started it’s hard to stop. So there’s that.

And now, work.