Ket came alone on the first day.
We spread out two mats and began our practice with the elementary question - What is yoga?
As the days went by, we were joined by friends, their friends, and family on certain occasions. Ket, Thao, Bindu, Hamsa, Sofia, Sarah, and Nalanda were regulars. Learning the Sanskrit terms for each yogasana and pranayama was a challenge they took on readily.
This introduction to an ancient practice that unifies the body, mind, and soul, led us to a new bond of friendship with like-minded people. We just let our bodies lead us easily through the sequences without force or competition. Achievements were celebrated by personal happiness alone.
Like children we went through the various phases of learning - beginning, developing, and mastering. While Thao's flexible body took up most challenges easily; Bindu, Sofia and Hamsa found solace in pranayama. Ket, Nalanda, and Sarah would surprise us with the length of time they held certain poses.
"Just breathe" I would remind them from time to time, as they folded themselves into a fluid kapotasana or a still ekpadasana. I was proud of their willingness to learn and dedication to the practice.
We had started our class in the living room of our old PDO house where the girls drove up the hill as the sun rose in the Eastern pinkness, after dropping their children at school. When it was time for us to move house, our move came with a silver lining.
The white bungalow that we had rented the year before we left Oman, had the perfect studio for a yoga class. A rectangular room with a french window framed by a brick wall on one side and complete whiteness in all other dimensions was one feature of the house that attracted us the most.
Practicing shavasana in that room with the birds chirping on the frangipani and lemon trees outside was an experience in ultimate peacefulness.
Om shanti!
