Hooray for yoga

I've started attending yoga classes here in Cape Town. There's a rock climbing place just around the corner from my house that has a yoga studio upstairs. Today I went to my second class with Ivan (or Ivan the terrible as he introduced himself to me last week), an 80-something year old Indian/South African man, full of life and energy. He's always saying "Right" and "Fine" after we've finished a posture, in this way of quiet resolve and full presence. And when he's explaining things he gets really excited and talks very quickly in a pinched kind of voice, which I find sort of amuzing. He pushes the class hard, challenging us to do difficult postures and stretch ourselves to the limits. And I love it! It's a perfect balance of work and rest and I'm learning new stretches and variations on old ones. Today I bought a monthly pass, so I can go as often as I want to. There are 4 teachers at the studio, and classes 4 days per week, so I'm going to try and go a couple times per week. I leave feeling centered, happy and like I've actually used my body in a good way. Hooray for yoga.