Ryann

Day 1, Hour 1 of 120 Hours of Yoga


Starting yoga today. I'm not totally new to yoga. But most of my physical activity in the last 4 decades has been running, weight lifting, triathlons, and other push/pull/compete/race types of sports. 4 decades of this has caught up with me. Left shoulder pain, hip tightness, etc. 

I've decided to make my new venture a challenge: 120 hours of yoga in 120 days. Initially the plan was to do one hour each day, but there are some days I won't be able to go, so I'll double up some days to make up for the missed ones.

I really like hot yoga. I've tried Bikram and a couple other hot yoga studios. So I've committed to a 4-month unlimited membership at the hot yoga studio near my house: Modo Yoga. Day 1 / hour 1 starts today! 

Things are just starting to open up here in Minneapolis after COVID. Masks are still required in restaurants and gyms. Modo has a vegan cafe connected to it (Seed Cafe) and they are just starting to offer limited hours after being closed for some time. 

I'm an early arriver. Especially in places where I feel some angst and trepidation, I arrive early to scope things out and find a place where I'll feel most comfortable.  Today was no exception.  I arrived at my class 30 minutes early, and saw a sign on the door that they would open 15 minutes before class.  I waited in my car, and when I saw Modo's storefront door unlock and open, I slowly gathered my mat (which is really a beach towel) and walked in. 

There were two staff (that I could see) when I walked in. Ryann (the studio owner who was teaching class that day) and someone working in the back in the Seed Cafe. Ryann was meditating, eyes closed and sitting cross-legged on a pillow behind the counter where yoga patrons check-in. Unsure what to do, not wanting to interrupt, I started walking away, basically to back up and back out until she was done meditating. She saw me at that point, and got up. Not acknowledging me, she walked immediately over towards the Seed Cafe and yelled to whoever was working in the back, "CAN YOU PLEASE LOCK THE DOOR FOR 3 MORE MINUTES!" 

So Ryann was not happy that her employee opened the doors 18 minutes before class started. She was not happy to see me standing there when she opened her eyes. She did not mask her frustration. I'll be honest. In that moment I immediately thought, "shit. why did I commit to 4 months at this place .. literally the first minute in here and I feel completely unwelcome and dismissed .. maybe I'll just leave .. maybe I'll cancel the credit card that the monthly membership gets charged to .." Every ounce of me wanted out at that point. But instead I apologized, checked-in, and left my flip-flops on the floor next to the shelves where people place their shoes. Something about leaving them on the floor made me feel like, if I wanted to, I could leave faster. Like I could literally just walk into them and out the door after class ended. Setting myself up for a quick exit if needed.

I entered the "hot room" and found the spot that I was familiar with 2 years ago when I had last stepped foot into this place. In the large rectangular room that can hold about 100 people (in a grid of 20 x 5 place settings for yoga mats), I picked the spot in the very back left corner which includes a little alcove.  About as far out of the way and invisible as one can be in that large open room.  I lay my towel down, put my phone on silent, wrapped my small satchel in my sweatshirt to create a small faux-pillow, and lay down in shavasna.  

Over the next 15 minutes about 20 other people joined the room, and then class proceeded. I focused on the sweat, and my flip-flops, and at the end of the hour walked straight into them and out the door. Tomorrow's class is not with Ryann.


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