Aselin

For some people following an exercise regimen is a challenge. There are a million reasons which prevent us from putting on our jogging shoes, or driving to the gym whose dues we've been paying for years only to use our membership card more for picking sesame seeds from Big Mac's out of our teeth than to check in.

I love yoga. I started practicing years ago when unnamed child #1 was a toddler and unnamed children #2 and#3 were infants. I am certain it was not the allure of the actual yoga which drew me to the practice. It was the free childcare at the local YMCA coupled with the 12 pm class time. This was a stage in my life when I could not get anything done before 11:30 am, and if someone would watch my three miscreants I would happily stand with my forehead against a wall for an hour. The yoga option seemed more believable as a productive activity, so I went - five days a week.

The YMCA had a variety of instructors of varying levels. I learned all sorts of things about myself I had never considered and gained a mental discipline which was totally outside my possibility without this experience.

So now, I'm a housewife armed with a little more focus, a little more flexibility and the knowledge of a few Sanskrit words.

Imagine my delight when a certified yoga instructor moved in next to me and wanted to teach classes... in my home. Let's see, overcoming the hassle of getting in the car and driving somewhere? Having my morning exercise commute be from bed to living room? Sign me up.

Somehow we talked a few more suburbanites to join us. So there we are, two mornings a week, twisted and contorted into all sorts of ambitious positions. I am the only member of the class who has had any yoga experience, so daily we go through the introduction and explanation of the name and mechanics of each pose.

Last week, our little band of women were laying on our backs, with bent knees, holding our toes in Ananda Balasana or "Happy Baby Pose." It's a pose where you really should avoid looking around at each other. It is not flattering, and you look as stupid as the person next to you, but the stretch on your hips is incomparable.

So there we are, a room full of beginner women trying to pull our knees to the floor when someone says "I wish I had known about this pose before I had my children." Um, ok, I see how it might help with the flexibility for delivery. I try and refocus on my pose as another pipes in, "Do they have the men do this pose too?" The instructor is trying to get us to focus but this question sets most of the women in the room off on a tangent. "They should have men practice all sorts of stuff so they know what it's like. Do you remember putting your legs in the stirrups for delivery?

OK, I'm as 'in the trenches' as the next gal, but you ladies are messing up my concentration and I'm not sure what this has to do with Happy Baby pose.

The instructor reels them in again, and begins to explain a few tips for Ananda Balsana. Breathing, focus, posture, all the stuff of child birth. As she's explaining some of the details she again says "As you're performing Happy Baby..." when one of the women pipes up very loudly: "Happy Baby??? Happy Baby??? Ohhhhh, I thought you were saying "Having Baby. This makes more sense."

The room devolves into laughter, including me. We were indeed happy we were not having babies.