It's tough, but it's worth it!

There was a man in our very hot class today, in the back corner beside the metal rail like you see in the handicapped bathroom. (Boy did this man need that rail.) I would say he was about 65 years old, but possibly older, and he had a large, square body with the loose skin of the Floridian winter crowd, and big floppy man boobs.

Let me tell ya: No one in that room was working as hard as that guy. This man was climbing the summit of Mount Everest back there - I am not exaggerating. To illustrate, these are the words that my mind is conjuring up in association to what he was producing, mainly in the form of gasping, grunting and groaning, as he shook and shuddered his way through the class:

- a furious bear
- a conch shell
- the gurgling, sputtering and coughing when a big gulp of drink goes down the wrong pipe
- a woman in labor
- darth vader
- teen girl watching a horror movie

Anyway, the thing that really struck me, ultimately, is that no one in the class including myself paid this guy one bit of attention of even really noticed him until the teacher addressed the two new girls (first day) who I guess kept turning around to look at him with looks of deep concern. The teacher, in a very calm voice that was neither concerned nor uncaring, just said "Don't worry, He's fine."

It got me wondering why no one else was worried about him. Keep in mind that he was by no means calling out for help or falling down or anything. He was pushing through every posture of the standing series.

I realized that we all know how difficult the class can be at any stage (and especially remember back to our early days, at least those of us that didn't arrive in the class with the bodies of world class athletes) and also know how beneficial it is to the health, and maybe it doesn't even occur to us to be worried about someone, even if they are having a really hard time. I truly believe that the best place a sick or out of shape person can be is in that hot room practicing yoga the best they can, and although I can't speak for everyone in class that day, the two new girls and their worried faces honestly stood out more than that old guy, even as he roared like a lion on the plains of the serengheti.

I wonder if a lot of people whose hearts do not beat to the rhythm of this crazy hot yoga, so-called health experts, athletes in other arenas, etc., would be thinking that the new girls were right to be concerned, and the rest of us were jaded, distracted, or brainwashed. I don't know. It's something to think about. But in that moment that the teacher spoke, I knew for certain in some recess of my mind that the man would walk out of there perfectly fine, and so he did, and I DO believe he's the better for coming and giving the effort that he did. And to take that one step further, if someone were to advise him (based on his apparent difficulties with the postures and the heat and whatever else) to try a gentler form of yoga, I would be absolutely against that.