An inconvenient truth…about yoga

While in yoga today towards the end of class we tried something new. Well, at least it was new to me. We laid back on our shoulders and stuck our legs straight (if possible) up into the air. I was feeling like I could do this new move with ease and then proceeded to push the envelope and bent my legs in some kind of reverse “V” thing that had some name I didn’t catch. I looked around and took stock of how I was doing compared to the more seasoned yoga types in the class…the ones that come religiously and actually know these poses by name. Let us just say I was at least comparable. Everything was going great, I was feeling at peace. Not a real thought in my head…remembering to breathe…deep inhale in…deep exhale out…moving with breathe. Ahhh….yes…very nice…wait, what was that? Did I just hear a...? Did that just happen? It’s just a mere bubble of air leaving the cheeks but for some reason it’s like suffering a blow of humiliation worthy of some taunting middle school memory. I won’t say who exactly perpetrated this unavoidable mishap. Let us just say…a “friend.” My friend must be SO embarrassed. I bet she just wants to get up and leave rather than staying the last agonizing 7 minutes of class to enjoy the most important of poses … “Shavasana” (I know the name of that one because it’s the one where you lay flat on your back not moving at all in pure comfort. I like that one.) And now my friend is going to have to miss it as she makes her swift exit. Maybe if she sneaks out no one will know it was her.  No...its unavoidable...the jig is up…she’s caught…now and forevermore labeled, “that one that farts.” People won’t want to put their mat next to hers anymore. It’s really a pity she will never be able to show her face again in this yoga class. She’d better go now. But surprisingly she doesn’t. She stays with the determination of a majestic sequoia. Quiet and at peace with herself. After all, it’s just a bodily function. What’s the big deal? Nothing anyone can claim they have not done. Yet, the embarrassment of publically releasing is somehow unbearable. Imagine yourself at the grocery store letting one loose. How about at church? At a meeting with your kid’s teacher? Just sitting in a chair and slightly leaning to one cheek and letting it fly…the way your Dad did at the dinner table in the days of your youth. No. Can’t be done…it’s not okay to do it with purpose and forethought. But what about on accident…when it can’t be helped? WHY the embarrassment then? Why are we embarrassed by things that come to us naturally?

It got me thinking…is embarrassment of these accidental and only natural stumbles a part of any worthy new journey? And, more importantly, how many more of these unforeseen blunders will I (I mean my friend) have to overcome? Will it, pardon the pun, get even more stinky before it gets less embarrassing?

Gawd…I hope not…for her sake.