There are no bad experiences, only lessons.

Saturday, a girlfriend and I decided to walk in a yoga studio on Ventura Boulevard after we dropped off our kids for their weekend activity. Of course we had come prepared with our yoga outfits, mats, towels, and the most eye catching of all was my friend's Five Finger running shoes; she swears by them for best comfort. (I need a pair). The journey there wasn't easy, seems everyone was on the road at that time. Somehow we made it for the 10:30 am class.

We parked, and hurried in the already crammed little studio. The room was filling up fast and we still had to pay. Finally we put our things in the locker and walked in the long stuffy hot room. I can't even explain the humidity level, but fresh isn't a word that came to mind. Nonetheless we were there to do yoga, something we both had not done for weeks and needed some good stretching and work out. We managed to squeeze our mats between two other students, it was the only tiny spot left in the room. I felt trapped.

The relaxing background music was good, and the first stretches easy. Ten minutes into the class, my friend began to worry about the amount of coins she put for the parking meter and by the time we finished chanting several loud "OM's" she was off tip toeing her way around the mats and got out to insure she wouldn't get a ticket. Meanwhile, the teacher had begun the routine. The music still serene, flowed with the movements; from the tree to the downward dog, the cobra, inward facing dog, back to downward dog, back up arms high, breathing in, breathing out... breath in again, back down on the mat and the speed increased each time around.

My friend returned and found me face down on my mat, I was done. But I pushed my self and my body into the various pretzel positions. I couldn't see the teacher up front, I could only hear her, she did her rounds but didn't seem to correct anyone or help them. Everyone appeared pretty confident with what they were doing. Then the teacher said to do a hand stand, "say what?" My head dangling down between my legs I saw the girl behind me kick her legs up and stand on her hands - WOW!

My friend was doing her best to follow as well, she was dripping sweat, I was dripping sweat, everybody around me was dripping sweat. I was hot and needed to retreat into child posture. So I did. We both eventually lay down to rest and a good half hour before the end of class, we left. On the way out, we had time to glance around the small front room filled with symbolic items, a collection of Mala beads, and a few outfits hanging by the wall, we also noticed on the front desk the list of classes, we had just experienced Level 2 class. Not the one to go to if you haven't done yoga in weeks, but I think we did quite well regardless. I felt my body stretched, warm and pain free. My shoulders had softened, my back was straightened and I felt basically good, a "good" I hadn't felt in a while.

We might have not even gone into the class knowing it was level 2, but I am personnalt glad I did. One thing I learned for sure; even a half hour yoga of any kind, be it low level or high level, has the capacity to energize you, and help our body and mind rise to higher levels. While I didn't like this particular place, it did wake up my desire to start a daily yoga routine at home. This morning was my first Monday of a routine I intend to keep. It was great!

So don't let yourself fall thru the cracks of your busy life, you don't need to go out and find yourself in a strange yoga studio, there are plenty online instructors that can help you create your own little routine. Start with ten minutes a day, then scale up to 20. You will be doing your body and mind a great service.