YOGA. . . PATCHWORK?

Marianne Fons joins The Fiber Nation again this month, thank you Marianne!

My yoga teacher recently offered a special Friday evening of Yin Yoga with live musical accompaniment. For Yin, poses are held longer to stretch the body's deep connective tissues.

As I walked to the event, mat bag slung over my shoulder, I was apprehensive. The drumming, singing, and other music a fellow yogini and also professional musician was going to provide would be interesting, but I thought the long-held poses might be challenging, maybe painful.

My teacher Tia had the hall nicely lit with candles, and Kit was set up in a niche to the side of the room, surrounded by her keyboard, drums, chimes, flutes, and other instruments. I rolled out my mat among the other students, curious and tentative.

To my surprise, I moved from pose to pose easily. Through yoga practice my breathing capacity has increased, so I enjoyed lengthening my inhales and exhales in each of the asanas Tia chose. All the while, Kit's beautiful voice filled the room. She hummed, drummed, sang, and chanted, right in my little town of Winterset, Iowa, pop. 5000.

I lay on my back during relaxation, feeling satisfied and reflective. Having practiced yoga every day that week, my flexibility was not, after all, surprising. My thoughts turned to the basket quilt under construction in my sewing room, a project on which I had not taken a single stitch in many days.

I remembered how long it takes to finish a quilt when you're not working on it and made a mental note to return to my patchwork soon (as soon as I find one more red print). In the same way, I thought, physical well-being is impossible unless you do something to gain it.

Eyes closed and mind drifting, I imagined the fabrics of India.

~ Marianne Fons