Floating like a wasp at a Yogathon

When a friend asked whether I would like to join a Yogathon on a Friday, I said yes without thinking.

I was never a Yoga fan and could not understand why people would try to tie themselves in knots. But over the years, I have become more open to new things. On a trip to Honk Kong, I was eager to wake up at 5am to join in a class of Tai Chi taught by a master in a local park.

You must have seen elderly Chinese doing a slow, flowing form of exercise, in a documentary or a movie. It seems easy, but if you are an out-of-shape expatriate from the Gulf, whose mind-body coordination is out of synch, even these gentle movements become a challenge.

“Follow me,” said the instructor cheerily and this was one of the movements: Drop down on left leg. Then lift the left arm and then the knee. Some of us were ready to slowly topple on our sides.

Back in Dubai, and my friend said she had registered me online for the Yogathon. I reached Zabeel Park at 4pm. A crowd of people with yoga mats were already crowding the park’s ticket counter, eager to get in.

I saw that people had very colourful yoga mats. Some of them had mats with stylish straps around them, which they hung on their shoulders. Others had fish-net bags to carry their yoga mats around. I realised I was among the professionals — these were people who would do yoga at the drop of a hat.

There are many types of yoga today. There is laughter yoga, where you laugh while doing your exercises. There is even one type of yoga where you sit on warm stones or in a room that is heated to 40 degrees Celsius and really humid.

My interest in yoga was awakened when I heard an instructor say that this ancient Indian physical, mental and spiritual discipline even helps those with diabetes. He said certain yoga postures help stimulate the organs and makes the metabolism function more efficiently.

I placed my mat on the grass and in front, some distance away, was a stage. A woman on the stage told us to say “hello” to our neighbours on both sides and we started off with some warming-up exercises. I noticed that not all of us in that large crowd were athletic.

However, I realised soon enough that everyone seemed to know what was coming up next, except me. An instructor with long flowing hair came on the stage, wearing a white shirt and pants. “Do you know why we are here today?” he shouted into the mike, as everyone cheered. (“Yes, to learn a few Yoga postures,” I told myself).

“We are here to beat last year’s record,” he shouted, and then I realised what a Yogathon was and there was no way to wrap up my mat and leave quietly, as the instructor was revving up the crowd: “We are going to do 108 surya namaskars (salutations to the sun) today,” he shouted.

The music started and he showed us the moves, 12 of them, which seemed easy, and were similar to the 11-minute Canadian Air Force exercises I do every day. “If you can’t touch the floor, bend your knees,” he advised us.

We began the Yogathon with a namaste (the salutation) and the cool evening breeze slowly faded away as my knees trembled and sweat poured off my scalp. I looked around and some people were lying flat on their backs and enjoying the sun.

I did the same, and the last thing I saw before closing my eyes and pretending to float, was an angry-looking yellow wasp hovering over my neighbour’s head.