Last year, my friend Luzma invited me to join her for a yoga class. I had taken yoga in the US and missed it, so I readily agreed. In addition to a yoga class, it proved to be an excellent Spanish class – left, right, up, down, breath in/out, parts of the body…I felt like I was getting a double bang for my buck. The instructor and other ladies in the class were very nice to me and patient with my limited Spanish skills and lack of cultural knowledge. For example, I learned that even in an exercise class, you greet everyone individually and give them the customary kiss on the cheek (in Peru, always one kiss, and everyone goes to the left). This means that even if you are already sitting on your mat, you get up every time someone enters the room. What a far cry from an exercise class that my friend and and I took for several years in Wisconsin during which we never learned anyone’s name and I am sure the instructor never knew ours! I also learned that the infamous Peruvian tardiness applied to classes as well – often I waited 15 minutes for anyone to arrive and once, because the class was held in a daycare, a father and I waited a half hour for anyone to show up to open the building. He was understandably upset; I just tried to be very “in the moment” and go with the flow, which is not my usual habit. The instructor, Patty, is a wonderfully kind woman and an excellent teacher and taught yoga how I like it: not as a exercise class but as a true yoga class designed to open your mind and body.
The class would have been harder with my limited Spanish had I not already practiced yoga in English. One day Patty talked to the class about mandalas. Everyone seemed very enthusiastic and a date was set on which we would make mandalas. I hoped I was misunderstanding: it sounded like some sort of art project, and I am far from artistic. Ever since getting a mean frown face on my apple drawing on the first day of first grade, any art project fills me with great anxiety, particularly one in a group setting. I went home and googled mandala and discovered that a mandala is (more or less) a circular, cosmic design that represents the universe and is used as a meditation tool. Apparently we were going create our own mandalas in class. I was stressed out just thinking about it, which kind of defeats the purpose of yoga. Adding to my stress was that I had to go buy craft supplies to make my mandala. Here, you cannot just go to Target, browse and then select from an vast array of art supplies; you go to a stationery shop where everything is in a case or back on shelves, which means you need to know what you want and how to ask for it. I had no idea what I wanted apart from possibly skipping yoga class on the appointed day, but managed to come home with colored markers and a large sheet of poster board.
Mandala day arrived. We spread out our mats and our art supplies and began some meditation exercises before being let loose to make our mandalas. We were supposed to let the drawing just happen- meditate, draw, meditate, draw. I did my best to go with the mandala flow and actually was okay with the process. Then, to my horror, Patty began walking around the room and talking with each student about her mandala. More horrifying was that most students cried during the discussion. Apparently, I was missing something. It kind of reminded me of a cassette tape I have from when I was about 5 and I am pounding out a made-up tune on the piano and telling my dad what it meant (it was obviously around Easter as it was all about Jesus being crucified and resurrected, pretty deep for a 5 year old)! Sweet Patty got to me and we chatted about what I thought my mandala meant, but it did not bring me to tears. The final step in the mandala process is to burn it. I actually put mine up on a shelf and forgot about it, but will make sure to burn it soon!
Mandala
Patty lost her space early this year and my classes ended. I missed them terribly and was delighted when she contacted me to say she was ready to teach again. Now, I have a private lesson twice a week. So far we have been able to have class outside in her backyard; despite the beginning of the rainy season, the rain usually holds off until the afternoon. I love having class outside despite the noise and occasional neighbor peeping at us!
Kerry On! 