Ariana and I met last week at the intersection of 46th and Broadway for a yoga class. We were celebrating (with 700 friends) the longest day of the year. An awesome and interesting experience. The theme was "Mind Over Madness." So yes, there were taxis speeding by on both sides of the class, car horns, sirens, tourist buses and tons of people watching and taking pictures. For me at least, the sounds didn't affect me much. I was able to concentrate in the midst of it. With the help of the 700 friends, it was easy. Other senses were affected, though. There were times when I was in a pose like Triangle (Trikonasana) where I came into the pose and found my alignment. Then finalizing the pose, I looked up. And I saw the tops of skyscrapers with the sky bright behind. And it was beautiful. And I knew there were people in those skyscrapers and people who built those skyscrapers and people on every floor all the way down to the street where we were. Like a connection between us and the heavens. Where else would you find a line of people that extends from a yoga class on the street 1,000 feet into the sky? Not to mention the people on the subway below.
I really love the sense of community at an event like this. I really like that aspect of yoga. See Ariana's pictures on her post.
2 comments:
It's been surprising to me how central the sense of community has become to my yoga practice, since, when I started, I saw yoga classes merely as where I went to learn stuff so I could do it on my own. Now, while I do have a home practice (and it's nice to be able to focus on exactly what I want to work on...and not have to do half-moon), I can't imagine having only that (then, I'm a long long way from not needing the help of instructors anyway...).
Thanks for sharing! I agree with you about home practice (and I found that forcing myself to do half-moon is a whole different story than having a teacher call for it). I love my home practice but I think classes and events like Times Square are essential to our well-being within the community. And for the same reason, I'm so happy to hear from you.
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