I began my Spanish courses at the Intercultura beach campus in Sámara, one of the most gorgeous places I’ve ever been. I took part in the dance classes, cooking classes, took a few surfing lessons and walked the beach. The one thing that I didn’t do my first week? Yoga.
So, I finally went. Reluctantly.
Years of playing volleyball, lacrosse and running track made me quite competitive so yoga and all that stretching and that OOOM meditating business never appealed to me much. Even so, my newfound friends from class convinced me that I needed to slow down and just breathe.
I went to the first class, ready to ease my way into some sort of down-dog-something pose I’d heard about. As I sat there and waited for other people to arrive, I gazed out to the ocean and listened to the waves. Living in a high-rise condo in the big city back home, I never really had the opportunity to listen to waves. As much as I hated to admit it, maybe this was just what I needed.
The yoga instructor arrived and introduced herself as Lindsay. She spoke quietly and mentioned that the class would be conducted mostly in Spanish. Even better—how do you say OM in Spanish? We got started with some gentle seated stretches which even though my Spanish is beginnero uno, I could follow. Slowly the yoga class progressed into more movement and poses and I was starting to understand the flow of it. I basically just had to follow what Lindsay did and bless her, she was patient with me. My hips reintroduced themselves to me, my arms supported me, and my dependable legs kept me mostly stable. At the end of class, we laid on our backs, and again took time to listen to the ocean and at that point, I was pretty much rendered useless for the rest of the day. Everyone quietly departed and I surprised myself by asking Lindsay when the next class was. I continued to go the remainder of my time while in Sámara and grew to appreciate the time to reacquaint myself with the way my body moves. Next week I’m headed to Heredia to study Spanish at Intercultura. Hopefully I’ll find a place to continue yoga in Heredia!
Oh! By the way, there wasn’t one OM.
S. King, Samara Language School student
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