Misty comes calling a Yoga class

Misty comes calling a Yoga class

This one is for Bharti - thank you for being with me since July 2010!

On a beautifully wet and torrential raining morning when all one wants to do is to sip on tea and watch/hear the rain and read every possible corner of the newspaper it was time for my class.  When it pours this way my lungs need to work harder as my voice tries to reach over the huge hall and rise above the bantering on the tiled roof. Notwithstanding the rain that day, nearly everyone had assembled, taken position and waiting to begin. Our attention was drawn to one of our regular friends taking unusually long at the door and we also heard soft cooing of a dog/doggie (said colloquially)."Must be one of the strays that have accompanied her.”Said one. “How nice’ said another. ‘I hate dogs’ quipped the third voice. “And we have so many strays around here.”

The door opened and we found Bharti with a beautiful Dachshund on the leash.

"Oh! Yours???" "No".

"Whose is it? This one will not let you do yoga, Bharti."

My friend was already exasperated. I never found her missing her class for anything (a discipline I appreciate till date). She had a request in her eyes. ‘Can I please get her in? The masters have gone out of town and I volunteered to keep her. Her name is Misty ’. Oh! We had another lady joining the class. As long as she stayed in one place it was ok I thought. So that is how lovely Misty joined the class on a Misty  morning.

Just to encourage regularity, I sometimes allow my students to bring along the lil’ ones.  They read or play with their toys as moms do yoga. This was our first experience with a canine.

 Between my counts of exhale and inhale could be heard the soft cooing of Misty. At the time of sitting postures she went around smelling all toes, looked amused and followed the hand movements with her neck. And being intelligent realized where all she would not be welcome. Seated forward bends were a pain for Bharti as Misty wanted to be in her lap all the while. At the time of standing postures Misty occupied the mat of her foster mom as she performed all asana on bare floor. ‘Anything for you Misty as long as you allow me to do yoga.’ we moved over to the lying down postures, Misty grew restless. She thought everyone was going to sleep.  She soon settled snuggling next to Bharti, adjusting herself in the curve of her waist and resting her head on Bharti's shoulder. It was a beautiful sight - a perfect picture of man and animal co-existence.

 As we sat down for collective AUM chant, Misty joined in with her “Ooooooooo”, reminding me of the movie 101 Dalmatians. Shavasana found Misty on Bharti's tummy going up and down with each breath.

Misty got caught in the excitement as mats were rolled up. I thanked my students for consenting to the unique experience and Misty for being a good girl.

That day I regretted my decision of not allowing mobiles in the class as I could not capture the sight of a canine through a yoga session.