Get Up and Do Yoga!

I got a letter from the school the other day saying that the monthly skating activity they do as part of their wonderful physical fitness program throughout the winter was being cancelled because of a new requirement that all students and teachers must wear CSA approved hockey helmets at all times while on the ice, and the school felt it would be too difficult to ensure everyone had one.

I’m not against safety, but I did think that the current school policy of ensuring all kids in grade 3 and below wear a helmet of some kind (bike helmets, which most kids have, were fine) was quite satisfactory already.

I was taken aback by this new development which bothers me on so many levels, that I can feel the rant start to take form in my head whenever I think about it.

But what really bothered me that night was that I had strayed from my usual routine and instead of finding the letter at 5:30 pm, when I could have dealt with the bubbling feelings of frustration by doing something productive like cleaning the bathroom, I found it at 10 pm just as I was heading off to bed.

So I lay in bed, unable to sleep, which is highly unusual for me. The clock struck 11 – then midnight. I couldn’t believe something so minor was keeping me from my rest but there is nothing like a problem you can’t solve to keep you awake to the wee hours.

And as I lay there in the darkness I heard a voice inside my head.

And it whispered Get up and do Yoga.

I haven’t done Yoga in 10 years, so the suggestion came as a surprise, and I ignored it. But the voice persisted.

Get up and do Yoga.

It’s midnight, I argued with myself. But the voice was determined.

Get up and do Yoga.

I had to admit, there was a strange appeal to the idea.

Get up and do Yoga.

So I did.

In the semi darkness by the light of a moon, quietly not to wake Andrew, but not quietly enough not to wake the dog whose cold nose only momentarily distracted me, I did the Mountain and the Warrior – which is about all I remembered.

And then I got back into bed, snuggling next to the furnace I married.

And fell asleep.