Lists of Stuff, and Yoga to the People

So, as you guys know, last year a bunch of us from DUFF joined a Davidson physical education yoga class. I guess our motivations for joining the class varied, but mine were pretty much that:

1) I would become more flexible, and would therefore not suffer from cramps/injuries during the frisbee season,

2) I would learn a bunch of new stretches, also meant to reduce cramps/injuries,

3) it would be a good way to improve core strength and have another way to get fucking ripped,

4) it'd be a lot of fun with frisbee guys, and

5) it'd be a stress reliever.

I ended up accomplishing all of these goals through dedicated yoga participation, though it is worth noting that I did sprain both ankles in Regionals on Day 1 and considered it the end of my Davidson Ultimate career, of course until Emory started being extreme bitches and we got fired up and went on an 11-1 run to beat them, those fuckheads. That, by the way, was one of the best athletics moments I have ever been a part of. The others would include:

1) helping to win our town's Little League World Series as a 5th grader, by hitting five triples in as many at-bats (I batted 7th in the order) during the semi-finals and championship game,

2) doing the "flying camel" dance after skying some punk (didn't happen often) in a frisbee tourney in TN sophomore year,

3) trying to hit somebody in ice hockey as a freshman in high school (5'2", 125lbs) and getting completely upended,

4) ...

Riiiight, I think those are my sports glory moments. Anyway, so yoga was definitely something I enjoyed, for a variety of reasons, and I looked into getting back into it in NYC. Most yoga studios though, charge enormous amounts of money to take classes, which really sucks, naturally. But I then found this place called Yoga to the People online (http://www.yogatothepeople.com/), which totally disavows the idea of paying for yoga... instead, you pay by donation. Its been running like this for years, filling a 4 or 5-story building on the Lower East Side (street: St. Marks, which is one the most chaotic, bohemian, mish-mashed places I've ever seen). You go to the brick-walled studio, do an hour of Vinyasa yoga (which emphasizes "the balance between effort, awareness and breath"), and then leave a donation on the way out. Check out their mission statement on the opening page of the website... it pretty much sums it up.

Anyway, so I went to Yoga to the People last Friday. It was awesome. I remember the yoga class at Davidson being pretty intense at times, but this was super intense... by about mid-way through, my legs were shaking during poses and I was pouring - pouring - sweat, so much so that I went to REI this week and bought some bandanas. Solid. The instructor was really good and was helping people with their movements, and there was a great flow to the class, though I had difficulty concentrating on syncing my breathing with the movements and a calm mental focus because I was concentrated on the action. It seemed like everyone had been doing yoga for quite some time, so the class was able to go continuously and some people there had seriously ridiculous strength and flexibility. I was impressed.

Anyway, I left with a great sense of calm and an elevated sense of excitement about my day, and, walking past all these New Yorkers who were obviously angry or stressed out or just not at peace with themselves, I felt really separate. I'm not a religious guy or even all that spiritual, but I definitely was able to gain this sense of appreciation for what I have and who I am... its kind of hard to explain, but I felt great.

Moral of the story: When you guys come up to snuggle, I'll also bring you to Yoga to the People, because not only was it really demanding physically and the girls were really hot (a solid perk), it was also a really incredible experience. I'll be going again on Friday.

Sousa out.