She spoke so fast I had to focus to catch everything she was saying. “I’m from New York.” She said. “I’m so glad you said you’re from Virginia. Everyone around here is like sloooow down, I can’t understand what you’re saying.”
“Well, I gotcha. You’re very thorough.”
“Ok well why don’t we get you to fill out the form here while you’re here and then if you want to come for class it’s easier?”
“Ah, sure.”
“Oh, there’s like one spot left for tomorrow at 830am, why don’t I put you in?”
“Ah, ok.” I say while I’m busy filling out the form. What’s my last name again?
People from New York, ugh! I have a hard time saying no to people from New York. Really. I married one after all. They’re just so much more….pushy than I’m used to. I get kind of carried along with the tide of their always rushing words and then I look around and go, holy crap, I’m living in TEXAS now? Or as was the case yesterday, I”m in a BARRE class!? What the heck! So FYI for anyone who has never done a Barre class. Yes. BarRE. Ouch. That’s all I have to say. Well no that’s not all, let’s be honest. So. I thought it was a Barre/Yoga class. Well, I was half right. We used a Bar. Which was actually kind of fun. Everyone wore socks. In fact, about 10 mins in the teacher went and dropped some ‘loaner’ socks in front of me without a word. Talk about peer pressure. Of COURSE I put on the loaner, probably soaking in the last sucker’s-sweat-socks on and continued the class. Irritated. I don’t LIKE to do yoga with socks on. Luckily there was no yoga to be done.
After about 25 minutes of class, me growling internally about the socks (ew), and just when I was about to DIE OF EXHAUSTION the teacher pipped up cheerily…’We’re half-way done everyone, yaaaaah!’. AND I ALMOST DIED. Right there. For real. Of exhaustion and annoyance. I don’t WANT to wear socks. I don’t WANT to ‘pump it, pump it, pump it, feel the burn…’ Ugh!
Actually if I hadn’t been really needing a soothing yoga class I may have (MAY HAVE) enjoyed the challenge. The instructor was enthusiastic, the people were nice, the lady to my left moved the ball around and helped me keep up with the class. The lady to my right SAVED A SPIDER that was on her mat. She picked it up and brought it outside. I thought, well, these aren’t my people but, they ARE my people after all. And it’s always fun learning new things. But I don’t go to yoga to bust my butt to get in shape. Obviously. I do it because it makes me FEEL better. My body feels lighter, leaner, healthier. My heart feels more free, my mind less chaotic. After 60 minutes of intense high energy tunes pounding out the speakers yesterday, and being yelled at (encouraged) to keep pushing those glutes…I was ready to hurt someone.
Mostly myself, because I suspected it was this kind of place. Where yoga is an afterthought. Where all the power, beauty and solace has been stripped away and all that’s left is a series of poses you do at the end of a ‘real work-out’ to cool you down. It pissed me off. And here I thought I was open minded about all the different variations of yoga there are in the world. And I think I am, mostly, but when you reduce it so much it’s just being used in a cool-down well, then you are completely missing the point.
So then I checked out VillaSport. I had heard about it from one of our friends so I walked in and asked for a schedule to see if it was for me. Then I asked if I could look around. The 13 year-old behind the desk told me he couldn’t unless I was willing to pay a Guest Fee. SERIOUSLY!? To LOOK at your facility that I may be paying hundreds of dollars a month to use, I have to PAY FOR THE PRIVILEGE to LOOK at the equipment and class space!? I gave him back his schedule and said thank-you-very-much and left. Ass hats. Any place that’s going to charge me money to look around to decide if I want to spend my money there can kiss my butt.
So. Finding a place to do yoga is hard. I’m trying to reserve judgement but in Texas, it seems to be really, really hard. I was spoiled in Virginia with so many great studios to choose from, and to have my home studio at Masuda’s Radiance Yoga Studio, that was a one in a million place.
So. For now it’s just me and WaiLana. It’s a bit lonely but it will do for now. There are other yoga studios to check out and VillaSport was really a gym with yoga classes so I probably would have been irritated there too anyway. The thought had crossed my mind that this market isn’t saturated with studios and someone like me could create a yoga studio that would have all of the kind of centered, peaceful space I’m used to. Where you don’t just come to ‘feel the burn’ but to find peace. To transcend the daily grind and the noisy voices. To have some core-building classes but some Yin classes too. Doesn’t anyone else here want that? Am I the only one?
I ate breakfast out on the patio with Ellie today. It was lovely – enchanting, even. With the early morning light filtering through the tree’s, and the quiet of the morning pervading everything. I did a few stretches and I wondered what it would be like to do yoga outside. In the forest, on a river. It’s all the rage in California and to some extent in Virginia. Am I the only person in Texas who wishes that existed!? I also wondered what it would be like to have chickens in the back yard, probably the only one in our social circle for sure who wonders that. So cute. Chickens in the back yard. And frogs in the garden. And fairies in the tree’s and elves in the brush. I live a charmed life I tell ya, a charmed life. And some of it isn’t even imaginary! I don’t know, maybe I’m just too weird for Texas to handle. We’ll see.
Angela Yeh - Fantasy Author. Dragon Enthusiast. Optimist. 
One more blog, and then the next one will be from Canada! Yeaaaah! Hope we can find you something exciting to write about! Ah, the scallops and clams at Cap Pele, or maybe the lobster eaten on the deck!
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