Shiva, I've Got This

The fact that our eight month old daughter woke up every other hour last night to talk to herself didn't help my task to roll out of bed for a 5:00am yoga class. Ignoring the nauseating early morning fuzz and bleariness at 4:29am, slumped into the car and headed to a studio across town. Even at 4:43am, Bucharest was up with folks walking into traffic, taxis flying down the street, delivery trucks cutting me off.

I somehow convinced myself I should celebrate the longest day of the year by joining a hoard or early morning risers and do 108 Sun Salutations, something yogis routinely do at least quarterly with the changing seasons. They do it to represent a spiritual offering of sorts and the number 108 comes with assorted symbolisms:

-Take in some light reading: the number of Upanishads, philosophical Vedic texts comes to 108.

-Hey Shiva! Destroying something? Well great because you have 107 aliases to cover your trail.

-Don't like the name Buddha? That's cool because he also has 107 other aliases.

-Catholic and Tibetan rosaries/prayer beads ring in at 108, a healthy length of solace and comfort.

-Get in line boys because 108 men coveted the gorgeous Penelope, the wife of Odysseus. Besides, she wasn't interested anyway.

-Giro d'Italia knows how to show respect: they retired racing number 108 to honor Wouter Weylandt who fatally crashed his bike in 2011.

My not-so-discreet picture of class. But I was SO excited!

At any rate class started with a bang. The sweat, heat, and vibration took over that room.  I fantasized about espresso and a big ol' breakfast burrito, while hammering out my 108, somehow managing to fall into a rhythm between that and my breath. It was a major victory blocking out my usual distractions: picking a wedgie, fixing my hair, day dreaming about to-do lists. We finished in just over an hour leaving plenty of time to lay on the floor. Not a terrible way to start my summer.

I am not sure if 108 means anything to me after this, but I certainly will keep my eyes open. Well, starting after I take a nap if I can get one.

108. Done.