Sometimes I have to mentally prepare myself for things. As I mentioned, I was going back to yoga. I looked up the benefits of yoga for fibromyalgia and decided the benefits far outweighed any residual pain I might feel. I know that my body doesn’t cooperate like others, and I know I have to take it easy.
It felt good to pull out my old yoga pants…you know, the ones that most of us wear as “comfy” pants. Well, I bought mine years ago for hot yoga, and haven’t worn them since November. Anyway, I arrived a bit early to check out the scene. I was apprehensive at first, because at my old studio, it was very quiet. I walked in and saw some little tomatoes on the check-in desk. The girl behind the counter said she didn’t know where they came from, but I could help myself. Another woman arrived and took one and said hi to me. She asked if I was new, and I said yes. It felt welcoming. No one said a word to me at the other place when they walked in. It was almost like we couldn’t talk.
Anyway, I was given a little tour, told where things were, and I met the instructor. It was a “HE” and not a she. Side note…I looked him up before the class because I was almost thinking I couldn’t go to a “MAN” class. hahaha. Seriously. I did. I liked the look of him and what he said on the page, so off I went anyway. How dumb is that? It’s not. It made perfect sense in my head. Man class=harder to pretend that I can hold all the poses. Not so. Man class=no judgment. Bingo!!
Where was I? Oh the class. The lady was already in there putting her mat down and a guy. Wait a guy? It’s ok. We are not being judged. There is no judgment. Ohmmmm. I started talking to the lady and somehow my business came up. I mentioned I had fibromyalgia, did not open the bag of crazy to the other things, just the one, and said I was treating myself with all-natural supplements and heard yoga helped. In reality, I am grateful my friend reached out to me. She owns the studio and actually invited me to come in. Anyway, the guy was there and somehow we brought him into our conversation. It was nice.
When he mentioned he just had a cancerous tumor removed from his ummm brain, I was in shock. We can ALL do the hard things as Glennon would say and I was glad he was there. He looked a bit young, but I know cancer does NOT discriminate. Old, young, whatever. I felt less alone and more like I was definitely meant to be there. I mentioned my research into all-natural supplements and he said his doctor didn’t say anything to him about that…yet. I am adding the yet. I mentioned my favorite thing, the greens, and at the end of the class three people asked me about it.
I am fortunate my friend reached out to me. I felt connected to these people, her tribe, already. She and her husband had a vision. They called it Tribal Yoga. A year has gone by since her husband passed in a small plane accident, and she is running a business, a full-time job, and being a mom to their beautiful baby boy. She wears many hats just as we all do. We have to make time for ourselves and come back to what’s important to us. We have to be here for each other.
