"Breathe in the air/Don't be afraid to care.."

I'm home from my first Bikram class of 2010, and it was fantastic!

I had planned to get up fairly early, but I hit 'snooze' a couple of times and rolled outta bed less than 2 hours before I was due at the yoga studio. I felt huge, bloated, and PMS-y. Bleah. Not my favorite state in which to do yoga, but what can you do? It was a beautiful, sunny morning, and I'm glad that it didn't rain, snow, or freeze while I was out with my dog. In spite of doing a lot of yoga, I am still addicted to coffee, so I had a cup of the stuff, along with a couple of big glasses of water before I headed out for the studio.

The Dark Side of the Moon class was really a surreal experience. So much stuff went on, and I experienced so many different emotions that I can't begin to describe it all.

With the large number of people practicing today, there was a lot of readjusting of towels and mats, fidgeting, and giggling before class. Then one of the teachers announced that R, a regular student at our studio, was going to say a few words. R got up and said a few words about the year's end and the new year, saying good-bye to the past and being open to the present. Then she told us of the loss her family suffered last year: a family member was killed in Afghanistan while serving in the US military. She recited a poem and dedicated it to him. I cried. And I kept thinking of a few other people who passed on last year.

And then our teacher got up in the front of the room. For this, our DSOTM class, the teacher did the postures with us and called out minimal bits of dialogue ("change!"). It was easy to time the pranayama with the beat of the music. I was standing near a speaker, and when the music began, it seemed so loud, I thought I might be sick. It wasn't horribly loud, but I just get all sensitive and vulnerable to attacks of nausea in the yoga room. But somehow, even before we finished our first set of pranayama, the volume seemed just right to me.

In spite of feeling a little dehydrated, pre-menstrual and uncomfortable at the start of class, I had a kick-ass practice today. Standing head-to-knee is probably my worst posture. Today, I managed to kick out for almost the full amount of time. Normally, I only manage to kick out for a bit with the right leg and hardly at all with the left. Today I did both, for at least 80% of the posture's allotted time. A first for me. And I had one of best days ever with awkward pose too.

I'm not an old stoner, and I've never really listened to Pink Floyd a whole lot, so I feel like a total dork saying this, but it was just really amazing how fitting the lyrics and timing of the album are to the practice. "Breathe in the air/don't be afraid to care..." We put our palms up and said "Mama give me money!" just as the cash register bell began for the song, "Money," and everyone laughed. During "Us and Them," we were always bending down exactly as the word 'down' was being sung.

I'm quite sure that these lyrics of "Brain Damage" weren't written to mean anything of the sort, but they seemed like an ode to Bikram yoga during class:

You make me change.
You re-arrange me 'til I'm sane.
You lock the door
And throw away the key.
There's something in my head
And it's not me.

So the album finished at the end of standing series. We had more music for floor series--Cat Power, a few Beatles songs, Earth,Wind & Fire singing 'Shining Star,' a few things I've already forgotten, and a couple of Bob Marley tunes to finish it up.

I'm a total dork, but lifting up into bow pose while Paul McCartney sang, "All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise," brought tears to my eyes. We all clapped along to a couple of songs while we shoulda been resting in savasana. Many people started singing along at various times. It was a trip. I laughed, I cried, I cheered. Cripes.

We did kapalabhati breathing to 'Exodus.' Here's my last "oh, wow, man!" dork-out about our stoner-music yoga day:

Open your eyes and look within.
Are you satisfied with the life you're living?

Move! Move! Move!

Dude, is every song really about yoga, or what?

I feel great right now, and I am really really really looking forward to the next 100 days.