Down Dog | cedricsmom's Blog

I've been stressed lately.  Holidays, work, relationship stuff, and all that contact with my family have made me tense.  It's understandable.  Everyone gets stressed at times. 

I was chatting with my boyfriends sister on Christmas Day and she mentioned that I seemed a little tense.  Okay. She's not the first person to mention it.  She said maybe yoga would help.  Okay.  She's not the first person to suggest that either. She even recommended a beginner DVD.  Eight bucks on amazon.  I can afford the eight bucks.  Particularly if it helps me sleep better.  So...I ordered it.  I waited anxiously for it's arrival, certain that it would be the cure to many sleepless nights, and that constant anxious feeling I carry in the pit of my stomach.

It came very quickly.  Six days after I ordered it, it was nestled in the mailbox among late Christmas cards, and credit card offers to "help me pay off the holidays"  I was very excited.  I had multiple other obligations that evening, so it didn't get opened until the next day.  I pop the DVD into my computer and push play.  The scene opens with a lady (who has the best butt I've ever seen) sitting on a mat in the yard of a mansion with a view of the ocean. 

I confess it's here my expectations start to fall.  After all, I'd be relaxed too if I lived in a mansion with perfect grounds and a fantastic view of the Pacific.  But I ignore my envy and watch anyway.  The lady (who has the best butt I've ever seen) is sitting on a mat, cross legged, breathing.  That's it.  Breathing.  I don't know what I was waiting for.  I've never experienced yoga before, but I thought there was more. But...its early.  Just started watching, this won't last long.  Five minutes later she's still breathing and I am getting frustrated.  I mean...come on.  I have stuff to do.  I can breathe while I do dishes, vacumn the floor, wash Cedric...you get the idea.

My frustration continues to grow, and the phone rings.  It's my boyfriend.  "Whatcha doing?" he asks.  So I tell him.  "I'm watching this yoga DVD and I find it very frustrating."  He wants to know why.  So I explain how slow it is.  How she's just breathing and turns her head once in a while.  He laughs at me.  LAUGHS.  He says the point of yoga is to slow down.  Relax.  Focus inward.  He asks me to please give it a try because he worries about how stressed I get. 

I love the guy so I agree.  After watching the rest I change my clothes and pop the DVD into the player.  I sit cross legged on the living room floor and I work on calming my mind and breathing.  I feel lazy.  As I sit there thinking...okay this probably just takes practice, I am slapped in the stomach with a slobbery rubber newspaper.

I am trying to focus on my breathing, so I ignore it.  Which isn't a good idea because my darling dog decides that maybe I don't like the rubber newspaper and gets the red rubber fish to throw in my lap too.  It's equally slobbery.  I ignore them.  He whines.  I ignore, he whines louder.  I say "Cedric lay down"  He minds pretty well and he immediately drops to his belly.  He whines.  I ignore.  He whines again.  I open one eye to peak at him and see him doing the Army Ranger crawl across the short distance between us, whining all the while. 

I'm no longer focused on my breathing and I'm trying not to giggle. I close my eyes and ignore him as he arrives at my knee and nudges me with his nose.  The lady on the DVD says we should rise into a...I don't know what the yoga word is, but it looks like a lunge. As I try to rise (not gracefully) the slobbery toys fall to the floor.  My foot lands on the newspaper, and slides.  I collapse in a heap, now giggling uncontrollably.  Cedric sees this as an invitation and pounces.  Licking me, and wagging his tail in his excitement over the fact that I'm on the floor waiting to play with him.  I stop laughing and reach for the remote, because clearly, I can't do yoga with the dog in the room. 

The last thing I hear as I'm pushing stop, is "Now shift into a DOWN DOG"  The giggles return as I pick up the newspaper off the floor and toss it into the air watching my beautiful black lab leap up and catch it effortlessly.