Day 20 of writing, day 3 of yoga

 

  I woke up around 6am today. Just because. I went to yoga with Ron, at 8am. It's on the beach, and you can hear the waves. It's actually under some palm trees right before the sand starts on the beach. I saw a squirrel running around one of those trees. The squirrels here are very colorful with deep chestnut color, brown with a lot of red. That is the body, but the tail is a big bushy bunch of grey.
  I went through the motions during the class, I didn't consider how much thinking I would have to do during an activity designed around meditation and slow movements. It's the anti-Zumba nature of it that appealed to me in the first place. But it's hard work. My poor wrists may never forgive me. Now I understand why the instructor has to tell you to breathe. I've never had to question whether I was inhaling or exhaling, and my brain was trying to multi-task that idea with all the other new things I was trying to follow along with. Oh, and I finally realized that I have to lose weight before continuing, my poor wrists are not forgiving me. Too fat for yoga. I didn't know. Skinny enough to "Om", I guess I still have that going for me. Except.
  Class begins and ends with and Om. It's never just an "Om", is it? ? It's making a strange and unfamiliar noise, with a group of only 5 people, next to a public path. I've tried it before. The class begins with 3 Oms. I've tried different pitches of Om, and nothing has felt right yet. So this time, I just hummed. As if learning yoga wasn't tricky enough (this was my... 3rd time, I think), I am learning it next to the man I love. Who is Ron. Have you met Ron?! It's the last thing we do in the class, and afterwards the teacher says Gracias, Namaste. And right after that Ron says: Teacher! Suzette didn't do her Om. We have become friends with the teacher since we've been here, but I didn't know anyone else who was there. I almost felt sheepish, for half a second. Then I was thinking, I will own it. That's right, I didn't Om. I'm being genuine to myself. I'm not faking an Om I don't feel. (Plus, I didn't want to risk laughing during this kind of... Moment) The teacher was gracious about it and said she didn't really Om for her first year of yoga, until she took a yoga instructor class. Then we left, riding our bikes home.
  And since then I've been thinking about it. About trying to find my inner Om. What does that even mean? So I tried another search on-line, I don't have the patience to track down a yoga person at the moment. However, they are all around here! 2 out of the 3 guests upstairs said they would help me with my yoga, they have been practicing for years. I typed in: Why Om in yoga? Inquiring minds want to know. I'm guessing it's something like bringing up the vibrations of your soul, or an audible part of becoming One With the Universe. I'm sure that abstaining from Omming (is it a verb?) probably is like a kid not eating their vegetables, and how silly of me to resist. I'm sure it has some kind of power to elevate my whatever needs elevating. I guess I'll read the results now, give me a second here. See Ron? The first thing I read said it's an invitation, and you don't have to. So there.
  According to heidischubert.com: not an expert, simply the first person I picked to read about, because I don't have the patience to check out and understand her credentials. But Heidi says an Om is also a basic chant. Which sounds cool, I love hearing a bunch of monks chant, it can be pretty cool. Like singing when you forget the words. What do you call a group of monks? A clan? A gathering? A clump? Yeah, a monk clump, I bet that's what it's called. Now where was I?  Oh, it's a sacred mantra. See? I knew I didn't want to laugh. That would be rude. Everybody else was really trying. To quote the website: Many people believe that “Om” is a Hindu chant, and if you are chanting Om that you must believe in the Hindu religion.  I think this is the main reason why many people choose not to chant this sacred mantra… This tradition of chanting Om did originate from Hindu religion, but is actually not specifically Hindu.  In the Vedas it is said that “This syllable Om is indeed Brahman. Whosoever knows this syllable obtains all that s/he desires. This is the best support; this is the highest support. Whosoever knows this support is adored in the world of Brahma.” For those who have never researched Hindu this word “Brahma” probably sounds a lot like God.  In Hinduism, it basically is, but for them God is a lot more vague.  Brahma simply represents the universe, and the source of the universe, all that is around us and within us at all times living together.  It does not really belong to one single religion but embraces all religious ideas and beliefs.  If you replace “Brahma” in the quote above with “the universe”, you will see that it is really open to any form of religion or belief.   -   So it's about Using The Force, yes? Are there Hindu Jedi Masters out there, hidden among us, and I've just never noticed? Probably. I need to pay more attention.
  Well, I'm going to go read more. This is interesting stuff. I will leave you with the next paragraph from the website, which is very interesting to me.
'In yoga, when we chant Om we are connecting to that universal energy that resonates through all of us.  The sound Om, when chanted, vibrates at the frequency of 432 Hz, which is the same vibrational frequency found throughout everything in nature, and within ourselves. This mantra is supposed to be the basic sound of the world which in it contains all other sounds.  When we chant this sound we are symbolizing (and creating) that connection between all of us and with the universe and all living things. It is also a way to delineate the time of our practice from the rest of our day and signify that this is a special time in which to care for ourselves and practice being mindful.  All in all, beginning and/or ending with an Om simply connects us and seals our practice in a deeper way then just with physical asana.'
  Well, I'm gonna have to try harder next time. But I still think it should be a private matter, behind closed doors. When I'm alone, searching for my very own magical Hertz.  It just seems to be such a personal thing to be doing in front of others, no? Food for thought.
  Do squirrels practice yoga? If not, then can be considered 'unnatural'? Some of those poses are pretty far from feeling natural, if you ask me. But I like it. I do. I like to Strike a Pose, even if the Pose doesn't seem to like me so much. My yoga instructor is forgiving. My thighs are not.