Bhujapidasana

"Lauren, take Bhujapidasana."

"Thank you!"

"OK, drop your head now, get your feet through without touching them to the foor....now come back up without touching the feet down....fold back the legs and jump back."

Check. Um, not quite check. And surprisingly, check.

"So, there's no tittibasana before jumping back?"

"That's right."

I also got helped to a demonstration from Sir on how to come up without letting the feet touch. This is the touchpoint I need to make before getting my next pose, Sir told me, "And I am sure you will be able to do that in no time," he predicted.

Not to take away my triumph over the Marichyasanas and the press-ups between Navasanas, nevertheless, I do feel obliged to disclose that today seemed to be a veritable Clearance Sale on asanas at Shala X: Sir was giving them away wherever I looked. The dancer in the front row was already in her first backbend when Sir told her to stand back up and vinyasa into her very first Pasasana. The actress next to me seemed a bit stunned when after she finished her Bjujapidasana, Sir told her to do it again, only this time, sit down and thread her arms under her legs....Kurmasana. And the several beginners in the room seemed to be given pose after pose in of the Standing Series.

What a wonderful way to punctuate a week in which I spent a good part of my Monday in a chemo infusion room and in which I have woken up slighty nauseous every morning. The nausea passes, but food doesn't taste quite right. I can't seem to stomach any animal protein at all because it doesn't digest quickly enough and leaves my stomach tasting sour for many hours after. And even my chai tastes a bit, I don't know, oddly bland this week. Dr. H says the side effects should last only a week. I remember last year, they lasted a month. But they were different side effects then: debilitating fatigue and bloating. This year, it's the stomach stuff and at night, a bit of restless legs. Ever have restless legs? Ah, the joy of legs that want to stretch and move when you want to sleep. It's quite bizarre, and unfortunately, quite unpleasant. I find that ibuprofin helps though.

Anyway, not to throw a wet blanket over a wonderful morning....instead, I will leave you with an anecdote that starts with utter despair and self-loathing and ends with triumph: Last night, as I was leaving my Yahoo! Hot Jobs vinyasa class, I made a HUGE effort to remember to take my iPod Video with me. I try never to bring it out of the house in the first place, but yesterday I had forgotten to charge my Shuffle. Anyway, of course, despite my efforts to remember, I forgot. I left that darn thing in the vinyasa room. I only remembered about three hours later: 10:00 p.m. I immediately gave myself a big ole metaphorical beating, telling myself what a jackass I am, asking myself why I can't have anything valuable without losing it (my last Shuffle, my Cartier Panthere watch...which thank goodness was insured...., just to name a few).

I put in a frantic call to Tiffany, my boss, who was probably sleeping by then, but who in her infinite kindness immediately made phone calls to make sure that I would be able to get into the offices in the morning, despite not being a Yahoo! Hot Jobs employee and all. Ultimately, in the nearly wee hours, racked with self-loathing and guilt (the iPod was a birthday gift from my parents and even has my name engraved on the back), and not being able to take the suspence a moment longer, I jumped in my trusty Volvo and booked on down to 18th between Fifth and Sixth and found a parking spot right in front of the building. So far so good.

Then it hit me: the doors at Yahoo! Hot Jobs are locked and require a swipe of a card against a little box to open them. I asked the security guard in the lobby of the building if he had a master key. Of course, he said no. Hmmm. Then I went upstairs and prayed that a cleaning person would be passing by. No such luck.

Then, just for the hell of it, I took out my Volvo Keyless Remote and wiggled it in front of the little box where you're supposed to swipe your card key. Click. The door unlocked. In I went, retreived my iPod, and out I went. Only as I waited for the elevator to take me back down to my car did it occur to me how absolutely INSANE it was that my Volvo Keyless Remote was able to open the Yahoo! Hot Jobs door. I started to think that I had dreamt the whole thing. So, as a way of "pinching" myself, I went back to the door and checked to make sure that it was, in fact, locked. It was. Tight as a drum. Then I waved my Keyless Remote in front of the black box, waiting for the click. No click. I tried again. Still nothing. I checked the door. Still locked.

How I got into Yahoo! Hot Jobs is an absolute mystery to me. An act of divine intervention perhaps? A total fluke? You be the judge.

YC