Yin and Nidra Yoga- Stretching, Focus, Farting and Crystals

This has officially been the worst month all year, and it just started! Let's call it the worst rolling month. In drought stricken California, it's raining in my neck of the woods.

My father passed away two weeks ago. Although it's a complicated situation and a long time coming, his passing still invokes a myriad of painful emotions. Prior to his passing, I was sick. I recovered. I got sick with strep this week in Des Moines. Not that travel to Des Moines was awful; it was fun. However, when you already have all the above going on, it is an uncomfortable blur punctuated by a fever and chills.

Last night, my poor little Lula, my six year old Chihuahua started having severely labored breathing. I already knew she is experiencing heart disease, which is common in her breed, but I was assured that it was just fine with medications. Last night it wasn't. I couldn't find an emergency hospital that I trusted. Instead, I waited and stayed up until this morning and made an emergency trip to my vet.

My sweet little heart patient

She spent the day in an oxygen aquarium. It made her look like she had been put on display by The Collector on Guardians of the Galaxy. They started IV of some serious diuretics. One thousand dollars and one million tears later, we confirmed that she's in advanced stages of heart disease and might have a bronchial infection. The vet took time to go over more medications. He also told us to look for when she gets too uncomfortable- open mouthed breathing and listlessness, and we'll up the dosage until it no longer helps. Oh my Chuck, before today, I did  not even imagine dealing with this any time soon.

Mail piles, work projects, emails, house projects, bills, budgets,  all the things that make me feel good about my directionality has been set aside as I get lost in what was and what will be. This is why Yoga week will be so helpful to get back to what is now.

Yes, this was a long sad lead in to another night of Yin Yoga, but the new twist is Nidra Yoga, which is described as follows:

Yoga nidra or "yogic sleep" is a sleep-like state which yogis report to experience during their meditations. Yoga nidra, lucid sleeping is among the deepest possible states of relaxation while still maintaining full consciousness.

This class was a small group class that started in Yin and ended in Nidra. I walked in, and noted immediately that two women were gossiping with each other in happy baby pose: 





Yes.... chatting this way. It made me laugh. See? Getting into the now.... getting a laugh. It's good for the soul! We started shortly after I had my chuckle at a stranger, and immediately, I could tell that the instructor was a bit more... ummmm..... spiritual than the last Yin instructor. She incorporated lots of chanting, third eye,  and yoga lingo I didn't understand.  Early on, we started breathing out of one nostril, and although I am kind of embarrassed to admit it, it felt good after awhile. I have a headache now, but whatever.

So we do the Yin thing, and yada yada, someone farted. I thought my mind deceived me, but sure enough, one twist later, and the farting has turned into SO MUCH FARTING, I almost couldn't stand it. I jiggled in self-laughter. Yet, I wondered if I was in some alternate reality and I was the one farting. While I thought about it, the farter farted again which confirmed it was not me. I worried the farting was going to turn stinky, so I started smelling my terrific smelling hair whilst in some weird yoga position.

Since there's a lot of yoga/fart spoofs, I took to the internet, and apparently farting in yoga is common. Since I know I am convincing you to try yoga this week, I thought I'd also share some helpful tips on what to do when the fart happens:

I'm proud to admit I didn't lose focus totally. I shook myself back to focus on the slow Yin poses. I only lost focus one other time when the instructor told us to "go deeper inside." My brain instantly snapped out of complete focus and said: "That's what she said." It just goes to show you that some qualities are inherent.

This is when this class went all crazy pants on me.... We began Nidra yoga. Our instructor was kind enough to pass our Reiki blessed crystals (WTF?) to lay on our breast while we did the meditation.  I laid there with a pink crystal shoved in my bosom feeling like a weirdo. The music and her guided meditation followed.

I cannot lie. I had an "experience." I cannot even explain it in a way that would make any sense at all, except I think I got hypnotized, and fell through different levels of brain activity. I don't think it was the boob crystal. I do think it was the music and her words. I have no idea if it did anything good, it just did something different.

Someone else fell asleep. She was snoring. I wondered if it was the farter. Then I wondered if she took a boob crystal and told her third eye that she desired not to fart in yoga any more, would she be cured?

I felt refreshed, relaxed, and weird? I think the hypnotist/yoga instructor programmed me to want dark chocolate, because I cleaned up my mat, walked over to Whole Foods in a daze and bought some Theo Chocolate with Coconut. And guess what? It was delicious.

This is not exercise in the traditional sense, so I am not sure I can add Nidra Yoga as a future option. I don't think laying as still as possible gets at the crux of exercise. It did get me feeling more at peace, so I'll take it.  Lula is sleeping now. She finally ate dinner, and her breathing is controlled. Small blessings. We'll take it each day, and I'll make sure I take care of myself for me and my peeps, because that's all I can really do. Namaste. FAAARRRRTTTTT!