Yogalicious

Nothing stresses me out as much as packing. I can have three finals, four papers, and a couple of interviews without racking up the amount of stress that the empty suitcase and piles of clothes currently littering my floor are causing.

YOGA GAMEFACE. 

Luckily, I do yoga.

Or at least, for the past three weeks I’ve dabbled in it. The impetus for this little trial run was the battle cry of laziness as it warred against an appetite rivaling Takeru Kobayashi's (six-year world record hotdog eater, for the uncultured among us). If I wanted to continue consuming enough cookies to sink the Titanic, I was forced to work out. But after eight summers of training for soccer season, something in me rebelled. And thus: yoga.

I wasn’t sure what kind of a workout these Utnahasanasawasa posses were offering, but I did not care much since it assuaged my cookie-guilt. Luckily, when I rolled out of bed the next day, I felt sore in parts of me I didn’t know existed. As I held Mountain Pose during that day’s session, I pondered whether it was Downward-facing Dog” (Agnoshawasna) or “Warrior 2” (Takeshitasanananana) that made my shoulders feel like mush. My roommate, who had joined in, wondered if I was trying to kill her with yoga so I might steal her books. (Maybe)

Warrior 2 is a "strong pose." Huge fan.
Feeeeeel the stretch in your back heel!

Then our dvd instructor told us to twist into a pretzel (Pretzelesana) and focus on the “soft gaze of our eyes” while this stretch “fanned the flames of our digestive system.” Giggles aside (and believe me, there are many giggles), relaxing the muscles around my eyes feels great and my digestive fires are stoked (!!!) that my body is bothering to workout.

Gracie's not impressed with my "Downward-facing Dog."

But she greatly approves of "Upward-facing Dog"

So while the packing anxiety (and accompanying traveling-to-a-new-country-while-holding-down-the-first-job-of-my-life anxiety) piles up, I am grateful that at least the muscles around my eyes can relax. And someday I might be flexible enough to bust out a full Lotus.

Until then, I call this the Schnabel Oreo Lotus.
Or "Oreoschnasana."

P.S. If anyone's bored and wants to read an essay about how awesome Twilight vampires are and  spend a little quality time disagreeing (and picking at my essay), send me an email. I'm looking for readers who fight back.