Grace Offered

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Last night, I discovered a new hot yoga class in town, and it was just the thing I needed to kickstart my mood and get me feeling a little bit more like myself. For so many reasons, I left the 90-minute class feeling rejuvenated and happy, and I think that finding this class was a small little answer to prayer.

I used to go to an amazing hot yoga studio when I lived in New York. The instructors were fantastic and the classes weren't too "hippie dippie," just a really great workout and very meditative. The class last night was exactly the same way. The only difference was that in New York, the "hot" part of the class was the result of a thermostat set at 95 degrees and vents blasting heat (even in the summertime), whereas last night's class was boiling hot simply because the AC was turned off. Sweet Home Alabama.

The class was held in the upstairs loft of a local tavern and it was full of young women and men. I had forgotten how much I love being led through motion and breath, the heat keeping my muscles and joints loose, the sweat and the hard work and the blissful relaxation and stillness that comes as a treat at the very end. It really brought me back to my New York days which was a much-needed gift.

I also met a few lovely women, one of whom, I think, was a piece of the answered prayer. We got to chatting about the area we live in and I confided that I'm really not loving living here (though I'm trying so hard to like it) and that sometimes I beat myself up over my lack of contentedness, wishing I could be more accepting and less persnickety. She told me that she and her husband and children have lived here for six years (they are also a military family) and it took her five whole years to start feeling settled and calm and "okay" about living here. She's from Chicago and misses a lot of the same things that I miss about living up North, and she encouraged me and listened and it was so nice.

This honest chat with someone who can really relate to our situation, plus the naturally stress-relieving yoga, resulted in a calm and happy gal. I think we all have anxiety and struggles and fears, and certainly they can't be eradicated in a day. But in little bits and pieces, with patience and prayer, they can be soothed. There is Someone out there just waiting to do that job, to fix what we can't, and to offer us grace.