An Awkward Position

The University of Hyderabad offers a semester-long Yoga certification course; this was one of the things that initially attracted me to this study abroad program. One detail that the study abroad brochure fails to mention is that the course is offered at 6 AM six days a week. 6 AM is very early…even in India. Undeterred, I set out this morning with a few other brave students for our first Indian yoga class. The yoga center is as far away from the international dorm as it could possibly be so we were in for a treacherous journey before the class even began. Having no sense of direction of my own I was entirely in the hands of my peers who, as it turns out, have no sense of direction either. We biked the entirety of the campus taking every wrong turn and nearly gave up hope with the realization that familiar roads look quite different in the dark. But what's better than being tired, sweaty, and lost before the sun even comes up, eh? By 6:20 we had finally located the elusive building, but our American sense of politeness led us to the decision not to interrupt the class in session; we thought it would be best just to wait around for the 7 AM class. Evidently, the instructors felt otherwise. Out of the door burst a corpulent, elderly, Indian man who looked at us with disdain and yelled "Get in!" Fearing the circumstances of disobeying we wandered in a daze into the barn-like structure where several Indian students lay on the ground in painful positions. We assumed the positions ourselves as the instructors yelled out less than soothing instructions such as "RELAX!!" or "GET COMFORTABLE!!!" As we took on more difficult poses all of my previous yoga training was put to the test , not because I couldn’t reach the desired positions, but because I had never before attempted to swat swarms of mosquitoes away while trying to maintain a one-legged balance. India will be a fantastic place to learn yoga not only because the practice was invented here, but because it will really, truly be a challenge to my stamina, commitment, and sense of inner peace. At the end of the class the sun had come up outside and we hopped back on the bikes for the (uphill) ride back to the dorm. Invigorated by our morning jaunt we arrived to breakfast with hearty appetites and bleary eyes. And tomorrow we'll try it all again...