Birthday Yoga

On Wednesday my very best girlfriends joined me for yoga at my yoga studio, Desert Song, for a birthday yoga class.  The ladies who don't do yoga met us out for dinner after at Flower Child, and it was so much fun!

I didn't want to do anything for my birthday this year.  I didn't want to inconvenience anyone, didn't want anyone to buy me anything and I also didn't want to put anyone out because we are all busy and all have families to plan around.  But, they just kept bugging me!  So, I told them that if they wanted to join me in my weekly yoga class, they could, and if they didn't, they could meet us after for a bite to eat.  Almost every single lady that I invited came (except for one that had a crisis), and it was a super fun night, full of tears - of course.

I arrived at my yoga studio early, with Christie, to reserve spots for the 4 other ladies who were joining us since the room only fits about 20 (and that's snug).  When we got there, there was a woman in front of me and when I heard her talk I realized it was my mom!  My mom was joining us for an advanced yoga class and I was beyond excited - it was only the second yoga class we had ever done together, and she hung in the whole time!  There were also balloons and flowers waiting for me, plus two gift certificates for 5 classes each - 10 classes total from my mom and Christine - awesome!

We packed the room, there were even people on the ends (where no one usually is) and it was so much fun!  To share my weekly practice with some of my best girlfriends (and my mom!) was just awesome.  I even got to demo a pose in the middle of the room while the whole class sang Happy Birthday to me, it made my heart so happy.

Anyone that knows me knows that this yoga studio means so much to me.  My step-mother was the first one to tell me about it, her friend was the first to meet me there and take a class with me (because Leslsee, my step-mother, had cancer and was sick at the time).  I started going on my own when I first started doing yoga, not knowing what I was doing, then worked my way up to an advanced class, got pregnant, lost the baby and the women at the studio embraced me during that difficult time.  Yoga helped to pull me out of the darkness and then I was back in the advanced class until I got pregnant again.  I went to prenatal yoga every Wednesday night, met some mamas, cried some tears (there is NOTHING like being pregnant in a room full of pregnant women - find a prenatal yoga class!) and then after I had Lemon, I took her to Mommy & Me, a class where I first really bonded with my newborn, doing something fun with her instead of just changing diapers and putting her back to sleep all day.  A couple of weeks ago I even took Lemon to their Kids Yoga workshop, and she did yoga in the same room where I found myself again, after going through the roughest time in my life - and it was amazing.  This studio is not just a studio to me, it is a place of worship, a place of serenity and a place where I practice (what I consider) my religion.  My teacher on Wednesday nights, Meg, has taught me so much about my practice and about myself, I am forever grateful for this studio and the woman who work there.  (I have actually written about my studio, and teachers, many times here, on my Yoga & Spirituality page.)

To have this group of women, and my mom, in class with me (and Lemon's kids yoga teacher, as well as my prenatal yoga teacher, who both just happened to be there) was awesome - it was like I had come full circle.  I cannot put into words the love I felt that night and the class just so happened to be about the goodness that lies in all of us - well duh.  I am usually the youngest person in that class, the women I do yoga with have been doing it for years (and my teacher was actually one of the founders of Anusara yoga) and even their love and respect was felt during my "birthday practice."  It was one of the best yoga practices I've been a part of, I definitely felt surrounded by love, peace and goodness.

After yoga, we met up with 5 more ladies to have dinner at this super yummy restaurant.  I had been before, a couple of times, but most of them hadn't and everyone loved it.  All of the deserts are gluten free, so of course that's why I went, and I ordered one of each of them!  The women I invited to dinner (including the ones that came to yoga), mean so much to me it is hard to describe.  I made a toast at dinner and just said that without each and every one of them, friends old and new, I wouldn't be the woman I am today.  I told them how grateful I am for each of them and how lucky I feel to have them in my life.  Not many people have girlfriends like I do, and 3 I've had for over 20 years, and all live within 15 minutes of me.  We are so blessed to have each other, it was such a fun group of girls, even though they didn't all know each other well (but "knew" each other from me), and I know everyone had a great time.  I just wish, as I'm sure we all do, that we had more time together, sans babies, and could make that dinner a monthly thing.  Oh, did I mention that we left our kids at home?  It was THE BEST.

 

Although I didn't want to do anything for my birthday, I spent Wednesday night with ladies that I couldn't live without.  I actually had one of the best birthday celebrations I've ever had and my 30's are my favorite decade yet!  36, bring it on!  (My actual birthday is Sunday and I can't wait to spend it with my family!)