Astanga

Today was a flawlessly beautiful day. Sunshine. Warmth. Bright blue, cloudless sky. Neon green grass. Amazing. I know that come February, I'm going to have trouble imagining a day like this. So this afternoon, I set out to enjoy it.

I walked the dog up to the Big Park and unrolled my mat in our usual spot. I did an unremarkable full Primary, medium sweaty, binding everything that's bindable. Breath and Bandhas were pretty good, but my Drishte was straying. It was early evening, so the park was fairly busy.

The 'Boot Camp' people were back. To be completely honest, I'm a little bit mystified by Boot Camp. These two trainers set up a little sign. They place orange cones around the grass. They unpack some Boot Camp Torture equipment. Then they sit around on the grass and gossip. I've observed them doing this for over an hour. Yet I've never seen an actual Boot Camper at the Boot Camp. It's a big mystery!

And the Fitness Twins were out tonight, moving around the park in perfectly synchronized skipping and jumping manoeuvres. The Twins are unique - you can't miss them: two middle-aged women, physically identical, dressed alike (from their baseball caps down to their athletic shoes), doing identical fitness routines in perfect synch. They even jog together, in stride. It's eerie.

One thing I never see is anyone else doing yoga in the park. Right up until tonight, that is.

I was well into my standing poses when I noticed a woman, clad in colour co-ordinated Lululemon, walk into the park and unroll a blue mat (colour co-ordinated to her Lululemon, of course). I wondered if she was a Boot Camper, but no - she sat down, cross-legged, and brought her hands into Anjali Mudra. She then launched into a fun-looking vinyasa flow. She had a pretty good practice!

Finally! A shala-mate for me! I wonder if I'm starting a trend amongst the masses, or if she's been doing this all along? I wonder if I'll see her again? She was moving into seated poses as I rolled up my mat and left.