A Short Story
Photo Credit: http://www.vecteezy.com
By E.Milimoh
I could feel her elbows buckling underneath the weight of her shoulders. Bridge was one of those positions that I had done since she was a young girl. Practicing her gymnastics with the other 10 girls who had secret dreams of being the next simon bile.
“ Now we’re going to take our left hand and hold ourselves…” as the youtube yoga girls moved on to the next positions, I stood 3 positions behind them. One of those famous beauties of the internet is the pause and rewind button. If it weren’t for that, I’d be fumbling and aggravated like a fish out of water.
She also loved the idea that no one could see her struggle with each pose, every slip and slide, ever buckle of her knees and no matter how often the instructor says “ feel free to modify this pose if you need to…” or “ here’s an opportunity to take a rest if you feel you need one”.
I swallowed my weakness as if it were a pain pill, through deep breaths she reached her hands to her ankles letting out a sigh of relief. That she didn’t need that break, and her resilience was all the belief she needed. Towards the end of her practice. The instructor entered a corpse pose which was one of her least liked poses. “This is so boring”, my aches and pains started to settle back in making weighted impressions in her cheap yoga mat. As she closes her eyes for her concluding vinyasa.
My thoughts floated in then quickly disappeared to the soothing background noise and the narrator’s colorless voice reading off some affirmations. I take this time to meditate, clearing my mind and moving my awareness to the creeks and moans of my aching body.
My body liked to remind me of how long it had been since I had done yoga practice, which in this case was in the past 2 weeks. Which is exactly how long I should be feeling guilty for not doing so. I opened my eyes to my dirty gray ceiling and an ending advertisement for women’s razors to start my morning. As I often do every other morning.
“This piece was written without the aid of studio-provided materials while WGA and SAG-AFTRA are on strike. These unions represent our writers, actors, and artists across TV and movies in their fight for a fair and equitable contract. SAG-AFTRA asks those who cover shows and films to refrain from promoting stricken content at this time.”
