Yoga-in-the-Park

"I'm leaving," he said.

"Why? She's here. Look," he pointed at a girl who was dancing. "She's beautiful..."

"Yes, she is," he closed his eyes. "And I have a yoga session to guide tomorrow... Are you coming?"

"I'll try!"

I slept only for four hours but I made it to the practice. He was there, in the park, sat in a cross-legged position, eyes closed, deep breath. I sat next to him on top of a blanket that I had stolen from a British Airways airplane. I had never done yoga before on a regular basis. He said hello to me and a boy who had arrived earlier and started the practice. It was smooth and deep.

"Dude, you could have stayed yesterday," once the session had ended. "We were just you and me and that other guy. By the way, I've actually enjoyed it."

I went back the following week to find out that it was only he and I.

"Why are you doing this?" I would ask.

He would only answer with a smile

Three people showed up the following week. Four. Three. Three. Four. Two...

He never felt sad. He never felt deceived. He never felt tired. He kept doing what he liked.

He was also guiding morning sessions in campus during the week. At the end of every practice he politely asked his students for their electronic mails in case they were interested in getting up early every Saturday morning to join him in the park for a soothing and refreshing yoga session. He also mentioned it in the rock climbing gym where he used to spend many nights a week bouldering among good friends. Skin, blood, sweat...

Five. Six. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Eight...

People started to show up more frequently. The mouth to mouth. The tipping point.

He guided the class with the same grateful smile he used to, no matter how many people were there. Fifteen. Twenty-five. Thirty. Twenty...

That is how Yoga-in-the-Park started...

Every Saturday morning a bunch of people from a wide variety of backgrounds and for many different reasons get up early and join the park in a yoga session that offers them that thing they are looking for that day...

Peace. Friends. Deepness. Exercise. Joy.