Yes, there is humor in yoga

As you may know, I've been in Colorado for a yoga conference. I realize I may have lost most of you by using the word yoga, but take a breath and hang with me a few more minutes. Hubby went with me and took a "Beginner's Conference" and surprised himself by enjoying it. More on that in a later post.

In the dining hall, we enjoyed the ever-so-active sport of people watching. That's right. We mentally rolled our eyes at the folks wearing turbans and the dude that looked like a Hari Krishna on the side of the road selling roses. Then there were the folks that appeared to take themselves and their yoga (whatever style or brand) way too seriously. But to align myself with yogic philosophy (taking a deep breath), I have to let folks express themselves in their own way. Sigh.

Back to the story. Believe it or not, there were some reasonably normal looking people. Of course I'm referring to me and hubby and all of our friends that attended the conference.

If we thought there were strange attendees, the presenters offered much more in the way of entertainment. I had a class Saturday that was in a dark tiny room. There was a small stage/podium for the presenter. It was decorated with a purple cloth on the back wall that draped down over a chair. This "throne" was surrounded by fresh flowers. It was pretty but weird. In walks the presenter. He looks like he is from India, even has a hard-to-pronounce last name. He's wearing an aloha shirt and loose shorts. He walks to the stage and stares at us. We stare back. He says nothing. He starts to unbutton his shirt. My eyes are getting bigger. I exhale as he has a shirt on underneath. He takes off his shorts. My eyes get bigger again. I exhale as he has another pair of shorts on. By this point, I'm getting really freaked out. I'm so hoping he doesn't take anything else off! I look at my watch and think to myself just 2 more hours.......

Then he starts his class opening. I won't go into that. It's just yoga stuff. After that he actually starts talking to us and making jokes. I relax. He is really a funny guy and knows his stuff. About halfway thru the session, he turns around and quietly stares at the "throne". After a very long minute, he says "If I were a guru, I'd sit there". We laugh. I breathe a huge sigh of relief and mentally thank him for not taking himself and yoga so seriously. I will say that there were some folks in the room that really think this dude is a guru. I just don't get that.

There was one presenter that had a band on the podium. They played "twangy" music while he directed the class. At the end the band performed a song while the presenter danced sitting down. The presenter seemed to forget about the 100 or so folks sitting on our butts waiting for class to end so we could go get a beer and some meat in town. Uh.....did I say beer? I meant waiting to go meditate ;-)

But basically, it was real people effectively using yoga in the real world. What a sigh of relief.

I'll leave you with this cartoon and no, it's not me. The boob (sorry guys, must be a wardrobe malfunction) is too big and I would never be able to get my leg THAT high!

Purple Mountains

Update: Waterfall hike pictures, Pagosa Springs, CO

Greetings from Colorado! Hubby and I have spent the last couple of days in Pagosa Springs on our way to Estes Park for the yoga and beer party (uh...I mean serious yogi conference). We stopped in Santa Fe before we came here.

We lost all of our marbles in Santa Fe. We decided that a 7-mile trek to the top of a mountain was a good idea. It was beautiful but it just kept going up and then up again and again until finally, we were at the top. We were were passed by a girl in flip-flops but we noticed she didn't try the wicked switchbacks that made up the last 2 miles! Topping off that hike by guzzling a margarita at our favorite Mexican food place made it very clear that we really weren't playing with a full deck. High altitude, dehydration and alcohol.......duh.

Thanks to Wit's Bitch's LOL cat, we recovered, found our marbles, and enjoyed a nice drive to Pagosa Springs. We are still in search of a great Mexican food place here but the hike we did today has made up for it. It was only a 6-miler (felt longer) with great views and an unusual waterfall at the end. Hubby has the pictures and one of these days you might see them.....all 1000. You will soon receive an invite to the slide show. Just kidding, just a few pictures will be posted. I promise.

Back to the waterfall. It starts as a thin stream but about 1/2 way down, the wind blows the water away from the rock. Then it finds the rock again and spreads out like a windshield before it hits the stream. Simple things can be so special.

The weather has been great and we hope it continues. We don't ask for much. We just like to stay dry on long hikes. Wet boots and wet undies are not fun. If that happens, we'll just have to have more alcohol to drown our sorrows.

And yes, the mountains really are purple.