‘And inhale …’
Olivia closed her eyes and did as she was told, breathing in and out in time with the room. Everybody filled themselves up with the warm, salt-tinged air that came blowing off the sea, the sound of the ocean mirroring the rhythm of their breath, the waves pounding out a steady beat upon the sand.
Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.
‘Whatever happens over the next forty-five minutes’ – Cece’s voice rose over unified sighs and expulsions of air – ‘I want you to come back to your breath.’
Come back to the breath.
‘Focus on the expansion with the inhale, and contraction on the exhale …’
Inhale expand.
Exhale contract.
‘And whatever you do, try to surrender.’
Surrender?
This was a yoga class, not some sort of battleground. A few stretches and she’d be done. Just a few more breaths and it would all be over, wouldn’t it? Olivia tried to refocus her attention on the breath.
‘If everybody could finish their next exhale, we’re going to move straight into our sun salutations,’ Cece announced, turning to look straight at Olivia, her eyes glinting withmischief. ‘And prepare yourselves, because here is where the work really starts.’
*
Olivia was covered in sweat. Every inch of her skin was slick with a salty layer of the stuff. Even her toes felt damp.
She looked at the old man next to her, who seemed to be mastering the one-legged posture that Olivia had been wobbling her way into for the past ten minutes.
‘Remember tofocus,’ Cece urged firmly, staring straight at Olivia, who had become so engrossed in the talents of the acrobatic grandad next to her that she was practically on the mat with him. ‘Remember tobreathe.’
How the hell was Olivia supposed to breathe when all she was concentrating on was not falling on her arse?
‘Keep your gaze fixed on a point straight ahead. Relax your shoulders and try not to tense so much.’
Tense? I’ll give you tense …
Olivia clamped her jaw shut and tried again, silent frustration coursing through her body. If there was one thing she was going to do before she left this class, it was to get her bloody foot on the inside of her bloody thigh and stay there!
Olivia tried again to lift her right leg, only just managing to get it halfway before Cece interrupted.
‘Beautiful, everyone. Now release the foot and place it on to the ground. Take a deep breath in and reach your arms up to the sky …’
Olivia ignored the instruction, grabbing her foot and forcing it into place. She was not going to be upstaged by a wrinkled OAP with flatulence and shorts that were way too short to be worn in public. With one final hoick, Olivia found the pose, standing tall and proud in her victory.
‘Yes!’ she hissed under her breath, only slightly offended that the class hadn’t erupted into raucous applause at her mastery.
‘For our next move,’ Cece continued, oblivious to Olivia and her achievement, ‘we are going to come into our goddess pose. But this time we are going to have a bit of fun with it.’ She moved to the front of the platform and began to demonstrate the posture. ‘You are going to move into a wide-legged stance, feet wider than hip-distance apart, facing the ocean.’
Olivia grudgingly untangled herself and moved into position, trying not to focus on the pools of sweat gathered around the edges of her mat. How did everyone else look so composed? Was this the definition of enlightenment? Never perspiring even when you were trying to contort your body like it was a piece of elastic?
‘Once you’re there’ – Cece scanned the students – ‘you’re going to place your hands in front of your chest like so. And then take a deep breath in.’
The class perfectly mirrored Cece’s actions. Olivia just stood and watched.
‘Then, on an exhale, you are going to push your hands away from you and bend your knees, almost like a squat – forcing the breath out through the mouth and pushing the space away. At this point, I encourage you to make noise. This is a wonderful releasing posture, so anything that comes up, I invite you to let it go.’
Olivia glanced around for any other confused faces. But to her amazement, the rest of the class seemed to be nodding.
