A Passing Incident from Today's Yoga Class

I've been attending yoga classes at the BCAE and at my gym since last May. The only positions I know by name are Child's Pose and Warrior II Pose. (I once read that while in Warrior II you're supposed to line up your front arm as if you were shooting arrows into your enemy's heart. I don't have any enemies, so I like to pretend I'm Link from the Legend of Zelda.)

Link in Warrior II

During my noon class today, we were in a pose that started with us bending at the waist and touching our toes. Then we moved our feet to the outside of our hands and crouched down so that our palms were facing the same direction as our feet and our shoulders were pressed into our knees. The next step was to press into the mat with our hands and lift the rest of our body into the air.

"Remember to focus on your breathing. Listen to your breath," my instructor said while impressively holding the pose. All I could hear were small struggling sighs and grunts, as we all tried to levitate our butts in the air. Then, I heard something that wasn't a breath or a determined sigh, but rather like the sound of a motor boat passing by and then fading into the distance. The sound of silence that immediately followed was almost more awkward than the fart itself.

Don'tlaughdon'tlaughdon'tlaughdon'tlaughdon'tlaugh!!!! I repeated to myself, determined not to be the one to burst out laughing and further embarrass the farter. I closed my eyes to try and shut out the scene and desperately focused my attention on my breath.

Then, I slowly opened my eyes and realized that I was in the pose! My feet were off the ground and I was supporting myself in a pose that I had never thought I'd be able to achieve. I'm guessing the farter probably wanted to sink into the mat and die today; however, personally, I'd like to thank whomever it was. Without their boisterous contribution to today's workout, I would not have achieved the success that I did. I award this person a passing grade for today's class!