Ama: i’m sort of in shock.
Ama: like…i’m gonna be what?
John: hahah
Ama: but i’m supposed to get new spells, right?
Ama: ’cause it’s an even level?
John: Yeah
John: But they’re kinda expensive.
Ama: like what?
John: Summon Mortgage
Ama: well fuck.
John: Balance Checkbook Rank 4
Ama: any good ones?
John: What class are you?
Ama: english major
John: I think you get ‘Great American Novel’ at 30…

If that didn’t make much sense to you, it probably means you don’t play enough World of Warcraft.

• I visited my dad this past weekend. He took me on a date to a German dance hall where I had Jäegerschnitzel and we danced. I also got to reaffirm my love of the tango.
• There is an awesome rainstorm going on outside.
• My kitten is exceptionally cute; in the morning, she follows me around until I leave for work.
• I made an appointment for the first consultation to get my wisdom teeth removed, which I have been putting off for over a year. I had such a bad experience with my tooth extraction that I didn’t even want to think about this one. I think it will be okay, though.
• I have yoga tonight.

My goals for this evening after work:

• go to yoga
• revise five pages of my novel nope
• vacuum the downstairs nope
• hang my flower photographs nope; but Pete promised he’d put the hooks in the wall on Tuesday

Edit: I ended up making invitations for one of my friend’s daughter’s birthday party which I had promised I’d do before when I realized that the date of the party was rapidly approaching and I hadn’t even MADE the invitations yet.

They look really good, though.

This was apparently a change from how she usually has everyone line up their mats because the regulars to the class kept commenting, upon walking into the room, to the effect of “Oh, does she want us to line up this way now?” To anyone who asked me directly, I just smiled, nodded, and responded that Robin had, in fact, told us to line up facing the windows.

Before class actually begins, I like to sit and calm myself, get myself in the yoga-space, if you will. I pay attention to my body and see what hurts, what doesn’t hurt, what wants to be stretched, what stress I can let go. I also listen to what’s going on in the room around me.

When one thinks of a yoga class, I imagine that most people would think of a room of calm people, maybe even spiritual people. There’s a lot of talk on yoga websites and in yoga magazines about loving yourself, lifting your heart, feeling your spirit, that sort of thing. Light and air, love and fluff, etc, etc.

However, people are people. Still, I was astounded by the number of negative comments stemming from such a small change as the instructor having everyone face their mats in a different direction. One would think that she was changing the class from hatha yoga to advanced rock climbing. One woman actually said, “Oooh, this can’t be good. If she’s making us change our mats, that means she’s going to do something really awful to us tonight!”

Really? Awful? Not perhaps something more like “challenging?” But awful? Yoga, for me, is an attempt to rid myself of my negative feelings and emotions. Maybe I’m being an elitist snob, but I feel like going into yoga with a negative attitude is like going to the beach and complaining it’s too sunny. The point of going to the beach is to get sun; the point of going to yoga is to release negativity.

It makes me wonder if the complainers are coming to class because they want to feel better and be healthier, or because it’s “the thing to do.”