Connectedness
Q: What motivated you to try your first yoga class?
I can’t remember my first yoga class – it seems like such a long time ago, but I can tell you what motivated me to head out to the first one this summer: I needed to re-juice my creativity, to become inspired again, to re-discover that connection between mind-body and the collective consciousness.
This was no airy-fairy need; it was as tangible and urgent as an empty stomach. I was 3 weeks away from defending my final paper of a
Masters in Human Kinetics program at the
University of British Columbia and the need to think critically, write diligently and create profoundly on a consistent basis has significantly overwhelmed my resources. Like many students, Facebook became my sanctuary; frivolously trolling the net, my refuge.
INTERNET… forever, as Allie Bosh would say. I was stuck in a reading-eating-sleeping-repeat routine.
Fortunately, I’ve got a few connections to the ‘world beyond my screen’ at my fingertips: the joyful crew at
lululemon providing a constant source of ‘come outside & play!’ on my FaceBook newsfeed. I was finally enticed outside by the
Salutation Nation event, one Saturday morning, August 7th at 9AM, when yogies everywhere across Canada and the US were encouraged to join in their yoga community to ”to spend one hour together with friends, teachers, neighbors, and perfect strangers connecting, being present, and most importantly having fun!” (
Salutation Nation,
lululemon athletica Community Blog, 2010, July 14).
Salutation Nation in rainy Vancouver
That wet Saturday morning may have been the first time my bare feet felt the dew this summer, and I laid on the grass with a small but loyal gathering of young, happy, fit-looking people who braved the gloomy weather. The instructor was perfect: humorous, gently encouraging and steadfast through the rain. “Breath” he said, and I did, taking a conscious breath, giving over my practice to this rainy moment. It was a moment-by-moment practice; the technological umbilical cord was too hard to break. Reaching for my iPhone, I tweeted:
"It's not very often that this is your view when doing yoga."
Then, the yoga poses demanded my attention – slippery mat & soft, detrained muscles required I channel my full attention into creating strong, firm connections with the ground, with my body, with my breath. I’m engaged, fully. I’m sweating through the rain. I’m loving it. 45minutes later, sprawled out in corpse pose, gazing up at the trees, trying to slow down my heart beat, raindrops cooling my skin, clearing my muddied mind, I feel connected, plugged-in to this very moment.
Leaving the park, I check my twitter account to find that
@lululmeon had responded, sharing my tweet with their followers.
220 people viewed my yoga picture that morning. Sweet – that’s like a double rainbow of connectedness.
