A Yoga Snob.

 When I moved to Tucson in late 2019 I felt like I had manifested a perfect energy of a life.

• I lived in a walkable part of town, prompting me to get a lot of steps in each day with morning walks.
• I was working remotely - something I had been playing with for a few years already - not always venturing the 30 mile one-way drive from Encinitas to downtown San Diego before I moved.
• I had a yoga studio less than 10 minutes away that specialized in the precise yoga I had been practicing for 16 years at that point. And also the one that I taught (even though I wasn't teaching at the time.)

Then it - the last part - came crashing down with the pandemic. And I went from practicing every day for 90 minutes (seriously) to not at all for almost six months. And then the yoga studio closed down a few months into the pandemic. 

So when I did get back to my practice, it was across three different studios... None of which really had a committed offering of the yoga I practice. They had "hot yoga"... But it was rare to find a teacher who would commit to the exact sequence. And it was even rarer to find somewhere that offered a 90 minute version.

I found myself in quite a few 60 minute classes that were described as "the Ghosh-Bikram sequence" only to have a teacher prompting us to do "Chair pose" a few minutes into the class.

What. The Fuck?

While I wish nothing but the worst of S.T.D.s and traumatic heart injuries to Bikram Choudury, I believe in the sequence of poses he and his teacher created. 

(If I could have people understand when I say, "I practice Ghosh yoga" understand what I was saying, I wouldn't use the word "Bikram" ever.)

It's a sequence in which I, originally a Type A yoga non-believer, have experienced many breakthroughs... Mentally and physically.

Not spiritually, though. Because I don't do yoga for that nonsense.

But for mental and physical health?

Hot yoga is brilliant for that. 

And because I had no other options, I practiced at one of the studios I could get the sequence at with enough frequency that I was asked to fill in and teach a weekend 7am class for a season. And then that turned in to a regular spot on Saturday mornings at 7am. Which meant I was getting up at 5am to get to the studio by 6am to get the room heating up for a full hour and do all of the studio opening duties.

All the side work other teachers never fucking do, basically. Laundry. Rolling hand towels. Cleaning the damn mirrors.

Anyway... 

In the second half of 2023 I discovered a studio that is a bit of a distance from me... But offers my precise preferred yoga AND even 90 minute classes. 

And I let it slip that I was also a teacher.

So I was practicing at one studio on the northwest side... And teaching at one across town on the east side.

Neither is particularly close to my house.

But this is Tucson... And "not particularly close" is about eight miles away.

Or a 20 minute drive.

I remember when I used to walk 35 minutes from the South End of Boston to the Bikram studio in the Financial District. Even when it was below freezing. And I would walk home in sweat-soaked clothes.

So 20 minutes is nothing. I realized I should shut the fuck up... Which prompted me to just practice at the northwest studio.

Like this morning... I was up and at the studio by 7:45am for a class. Then I hit the grocery store on the way home, and had walked my dog and gotten ready by 10:30am. So I was sitting by the fire, drinking coffee, watching TikToks before 11am.

And I realized my attitude change about being willing to drive 20 minutes for class has me seeing that I have once again manifested a perfect energy of a life. 

Lovely.

Also... I no longer teach at the east side studio. But I do teach at the northwest side studio. Certified Ghosh/Bikram teachers are hard to find. So once a week, I give back. 

I don't want to lose this perfect energy of a life again. 

But if it happens again, I will adapt my attitude and be less of a yoga snob.