traveling mercies and bikram

i went to my first Bikram Yoga class last evening, and boy did it kick my ass. ninety minutes of 105F degrees and about 40% humidity. ninety minutes of yoga pose after yoga pose in the intense heat. ninety solid minutes of me thinking “what the hell have i gotten myself into now?” There were many instances when i would look over at roxanna and see in her sweaty face exactly what i was feeling: pain, exhaustion, heavy limbs, tears close by. oh my. just like when i started running, i figured the very first day would be the hardest, and that was certainly true. roxanna and i have challenged ourselves to 4 weeks of Bikram (3-4 sessions/week). i’ll be interested to see how we come out of this experience 4 weeks from now. one thing is for sure: i slept like a baby last nite and i’m sure that will continue….

In the book i’m reading, Traveling Mercies, Anne Lamott writes about how Buddhist believe that when several things start going wrong all at once (the car breaks, the dog gets hospitalized, you don’t get accepted to grad school, it rains for 40 days in a row), it is to protect something bigger and greater that is trying to get itself born. and that whatever it is that is trying to come into your world needs for you to be distracted so that it can be born as perfectly as possible. how cool of a concept is that? as soon as i read it, i related to it, and i believed it, and i felt it to be true. so last nite, when poor roxanna was struggling through her first Bikram class, sick with a head cold, only to have her car almost towed away during class, i told her about what i had read and suggested that maybe something wonderful and lovely was on it’s way to her, that it was being born and would soon arrive. we both smiled, weary and tired, and hoped it was true.