It’s hard to get up in time to take an 8am yoga class. I’m getting better at it.

Since Covid, I haven’t seen my Memphis teacher much. The reasons are a combination of a lot of things. One being that our schedules are the same

So when she is teaching I am teaching. Two, the convenience of attending two 8am classes online with Gulnaaz per week. Three, probably underlying it all, is laziness.

I admit it. Lethargy. During Covid, I felt free of certain constraints (like driving to work and waking up at 5am to teach Yoga boot camp.) Yoga boot camp, by the way, is an oxymoron to me. I would never join the military. And yoga is about much more than calisthenics. So I called it “boot camp” because just getting up that early feels like an extreme sport.

Gulnaaz Dashti started teaching online two days a week. I signed up.

The discipline of waking up for class is good for me. It keeps me from overindulging the night before. I pay by the month, and I want to get my money’s worth.

I mash a button (aka “login in to zoom.”). This teacher appears all the way from Pune, India. By now, she knows my body well, and isn’t pushy. I know very little about her. I know that sees me.

She calls my name. Telling me good job. Answering my questions. Nudging me past my limits. And she sees me.