i think of yoga as ridiculous. chanting. poses. incense. overpriced spandex outfits. but i went to yoga because my facebook friend from last year’s journey asked me to give it a try. . .
can you have a yoga studio without a picture or statue of ganesh and maybe a few posters with inspirational phrases? jeez, i like my exercise to be short, nasty and brutish–just like thomas hobbes, the seventeenth century english philosopher promised me all life would be!
seriously, the teacher david vendetti didn’t look like this when he was playing the harmonium!
but then i sort of got into it. i was awful at some poses. and occasionally i was balancing on one foot and thought i would fall over on the impossibly serious yoga gal on my right. a few times i thought the teacher was making fun of me, but hell, i wasn’t the model student. then after an hour and a half i was as exhausted as i would have been had i been running and i realized that for about forty five minutes i had been completely out of my head, whcih is to say, i was in the moment. i wasn’t thinking the drama stuff, i wasn’t part of myself, i was just part of the class. that’s so cool.
i talked to david vendetti about whether yoga is helpful for people with anxiety–whether social phobias, agoraphobia, panic attacks)–and here’s what he had to say:
i’m not a convert. i’m not going to be buying any incense. i won’t be talking to my friends about their chakras and past lives. but there was one odd thing that happened–for the first time in several years, i didn’t have acid reflux. i didn’t have that pain in the chest i get when i eat or when i’m anxious. coincidence? i don’t know. i’m with an open mind. i felt okay. maybe i should consider this as part of the arsenal against anxiety.
and in fact, i was pretty laid back. me–laid back?
and i’d have to be laid back because i was about to take not one but two facebook friends up to the top of the prudential center in boston so we could talk woman to fear about heights and elevators.
i’m not necessarily going to give yoga another try, especially since the south boston yoga studio is, well, actually quite a distance from my home in chicago. but you can have one free lesson (tell them arlynn sent you!) just go to http://www.southbostonyoga.net/ or to their address, 36 w. broadway, or call them at 617/315-7448
*i’ve decided to go back to the 2011 numbering system. just easier for me. so marshae white of lorain, ohio becomes #293, molly parshall of coldwater, michigan becomes #294, lisa tabbi-fuller becomes #295 and her sister in law angela becomes #296. the f2fb project is back after a much needed hiatus! now i just have to figure out how to answer all my messages and emails. i fall further and further behind. .. .
but in boston i was focused on two galpals who have anxiety attacks that debilitate and i was wondering whether yoga could help them. . . .
arlynnpresser 
February 2nd, 2012 at 1:39 am
Your focus shifted so less stress…a person is what they think about all day so Dream on and think as a person who is happy does.
February 2nd, 2012 at 2:41 am
the dream on music was actually sort of a funny reminder to american culture. i was surprised. i hadn’t done a back bend since i was young. i now want to do one every day. would it make a difference in how i am ? i don’t know–marty, this is weird but the gal who took me to the class thought my post was disrespectful. and the first posting of it was coincidentally deleted. is this post, it’s no different from the first one, is it disrespectful to yoga?
and then there’s the whole other issue of whether it’s okay for me to be disrespectful to yoga.
February 2nd, 2012 at 4:23 am
People do like their belief structures challenged or disrespected as they see it as an extension of self. Much too funny as self is a extension of life are we all not brothers and sisters in some sense. Talking heads song comes to mind water removed water behind water it is the year of the water dragon. Lead singer very interesting bio.
Arlynn do tell what are the origins of your name?
February 2nd, 2012 at 9:32 am
Glad the post is back, I didn’t find it disrespectful at all. To me it just highlighted that we are all different and experience things differently. In fact it just about inspired me to go and buy some yoga dvds and get back into it – I find it a wonderful way to just let go and find another place (well thats during the cool down/meditation at the end), some of the poses I just don’t think I can still do….. chin up and keep having fun!
February 2nd, 2012 at 1:02 pm
sigga, it’s good to hear from you! and i hope that you find yoga as challenging as i did. the only thing i didn’t like was how i still weigh too much! but one class can’t change everything i suppose! much love, arlynn
February 10th, 2012 at 1:24 am
it was weird that this post was hacked and taken down and i ended up having to change my password and repost it. i find the internet a complete wild west!