[drp] Connect With Your Breath (open)

[AMItotic]

On Wednesday nights and Saturday afternoons, a small side-room of the community college gym was reserved for an hour of yoga with resident bean-pole and occasional furry Lily Babineaux. Her set up was a simple one--threadbare mats in various dark colors on the ground, something low and guitar-based playing from a speaker and her phone in a corner. With the curtains drawn, most of the mood lighting came from the shimmer of a glittery red lava lamp, motes of light floating around the room like low-budget flickers of a flame.

Lily herself wore skintight clothes in all black, dark hair braided and her bangs pinned up, sitting cross-legged on a purple mat at the head of the class. Except for the nubby horns at her hairline, she might have appeared completely human, but her regulars knew better that in about two weeks she'd be complementing her gothy look with a set of rounded fisher ears. One eye fluttered open sleepily as each student again, and every so often she would adjust her seat.

"Alright, kids," she began, reaching for her phone to dial down the volume. "Pick a mat and get cozy, we're about to get this s**t started."

Quote:

This is an open thread for anyone wanting to interact with Lily at one of her classes, so feel free to hop in whenever! Like with any DRP, just title your instance in bold at the top of your post so I can keep track <3

 

[demon_pachabel]

Inflexible - Wednesday Night

Yoga was fun, right? Yoga was easy right? That's what Cassandra had thought a grand total of .8302938 seconds ago. What she learned quickly, on her little mat, was that she was definitely going to be out yoga'd by every child under the age of 8 who cared.

At least it was something to do in this town.

For all the strange stuff Cass was able to do, apparently just touch her toes was not one of them as she reached out dumbly trying to touch the darn things.

"Damn, dangit, I'm...not...rrrrrrr!" she continued to reach. Her best attempt ever. Her entire workout would be 'try to touch my toes' at this rate of frustration though and she was definitely going to hurt herself. Instruction hadn't even started yet. She was just determined to break herself in somehow.  

[kuropeco]

pose-ter boy (saturday afternoon)


"I think," said Nathaniel, as delicately as one could when one was attempting to pull balance on one's hands and lift one's feet sideways into the air, "that'm just not made for yoga."

He wasn't inflexible, exactly. But some of the poses that were being asked were not exactly in the wheelhouse of someone who spent most of his time gardening and less so actual physical sports that involved moving a lot. Nathaniel peered over at Lily, eyebrows raised, and readjusted his palms.

"I don't suppose y'got any other suggestions for me?"

xamitotic

 

[AMItotic]

Inflexible - Wednesday Night

"That's a good way to sprain your hammies," Lily drawled, pulling up from her seat as some of the other students filed in. She crossed the distance between her mat and Cassandra's, hands on her hips while she watched.

"Start by bending your knees, and breathe out when you reach, makes you go a little further." She nodded slowly, tilting her head. "But no one touches their toes the first try. It takes practice. You'll get it."

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

Inflexible - Wednesday Night

"m-My whats?" Cass knew a sprain was probably not something she wanted in her near (or perhaps even far) future and leaned back when the instructor walked over, suddenly feeling a littttle self conscious about everything in her life.

"Soooo, kneeees," she drew out her vowels (she'd pay a lot for those in Jeopardy) as she first bent her knees, maybe a little too much, then reached out to grab her feet now that they were in range. Not that she had her toes yet, just the top of her feet. "So do I work on getting my toes first or straightening my legs first or does it matter?"

AMItotic

Please help my noodle girl be a flexible noodle girl, senpai.

 

[AMItotic]

Pose-ter Boy (saturday afternoon)

"Nah, dude, you're fine," Lily wheezed, unraveling from the same pose herself. "You gotta walk before you can run with eight-angle, it's actually really tough." She reached for a foam block at the edge of her mat and shuffled over, placing it under his hips for cushion.

"Lower your weight on that a little," she said, pressing lightly on his top hip crease to guide the movement. "Poses like this are powered by your abs, so you're gonna want to pull from there more than your arms. If your abs hurt? Then you're doing it right."

Straight-faced, she poked him in the soft flesh of his side.

kuropeco

 

[AMItotic]

Inflexible - Wednesday Night

"Hammies, short for Hammie-strings," Lily nodded, "They're that big muscle on the back of your upper leg, and it hurts like a b***h if you mess one up."

"Toes first," she added, and with an exhale she folded at the waist, bending her knees to show her. "It's more important that you feel the stretch in your lower back and your legs, you don't wanna lock up your knees and end up passing out."

"But we'll take it nice and easy through class today, work towards getting all that tension out," Lily said, rising to a standing posture. "Is this your first class?"

demon_pachabel

Lily is delighted, Ashdown needs more noodle girls

 

[demon_pachabel]

Inflexible - Wednesday Night

"I...I think I've pulled that before." and Cassandra was not going to admit that she'd done that by waking up and stretching while in bed and then not wanting to walk the rest of the day. The point was clear though: Don't hurt the hammies.

The more Lily explained, the more horrified Cassandra seemed to be at the prospect of I COULD HAVE HURT MYSELF AND KIDS DO THIS FOR FUN. "You..you can pass out from locking your knees?" she'd never heard that before! Woah! Still the show-by-example was enough to get Cass to mimic the gesture, putting in a little extra time on the 'breaaaaaaaaaaaaathe plz' phase before she reached again for those lovely little toes.

Still not quite there yet, though.

"Yeah, this is my first class. I've only been in town for a few weeks, so I'm just kind of exploring everything. Getting a feel for the town. Finding things."

AMItotic

My little unathletic noodle girl will be a great project.

 

[saedusk]

Fabulous and Flexible - Saturday Afternoon

After parting ways with his parents and their money, Elliot had been forced to give up more than a few of the creature comforts he'd been accustomed to. They'd moved to a smaller condo, one they could actually afford, and he'd put his thoughts of college aside to get a job. His clothes weren't as fancy anymore, either, and almost never brand name—not that it stopped him from looking his best in public, of course.

What hadn't hit him quite as hard was moving his yoga sessions home, without the aid of an instructor. Still, he'd missed it, being the social butterfly that he was. Now that they were more stable, he signed up for classes again.

Lily might recognize him as the boisterous blonde who'd been coming to both of her sessions religiously for about two months now. Like always, he picked one of the dark purple mats and looked exceedingly pleased about such a small feat.

AMItotic

 

[kuropeco]

pose-ter boy (saturday afternoon)


He tried to follow her movements, Lily's hands helping to steady him a little more than if he had just been doing this on his own. Nathaniel wheezed out, "I think everythin' hurts right abou' now, not gonna lie. This is tougher than I thought yoga would be, t'be honest."

The poke to his side made him let out a squawk, and then the entire pose collapse, Nathaniel crumpling to a heap on the mat. He let out a laugh, straightening, and peered over at Lily with mock accusing eyes.

"Excuse you, ma'am, I don' think that's how it works, either."

amitotic

 

[AMItotic]

Inflexible - Wednesday Night

"I mean, you have to be trying really hard, but yeah, you can put your whole legs on lockdown and then pchoo, there you are on the floor not knowing what year it is."

She stretched her arms up and back, leaning her neck to one side. "Well, welcome to Spookville USA. s**t's weird here, but it's kinda cool."

demon_pachabel

 

[AMItotic]

Fabulous and Flexible - Saturday Afternoon

"Yo."

Not every person who walked into Lily's classroom received a greeting. But after a few months of faithful practice, she lifted a hand in greeting as Elliot settled in. Lily herself had been face down in child's pose but slowly she lifted herself to a seated position, scratching behind one ear.

"So what'll it be today? Hip openers? Inversions? I'm open to requests."

saedusk

 

[AMItotic]

pose-ter boy (saturday afternoon)

"The hardest part of yoga is making it look easy," Lily nodded sagely, ignoring the sounds of his protest as he slumped to the floor. "You must find serenity in adversity, like you're trying to plant seeds somewhere...where...plants don't...grow..."

She glanced down at Nathaniel and shrugged. "It's okay, garden boy, you're better at metaphors."

kuropeco

 

[demon_pachabel]

Inflexible - Wednesday Night

"Holy ********," Cass didn't pause to apologize for her crude tongue. She had it for a reason. "That's almost as scary as what this dude I met in J-" Don't mention that "- Ohio once told me about how you can like..snap your achilles and your blood just stops flowin' and you die or something."

Legs would be the death of her.

"Y'know, I haven't seen anything too spooky yet. Everybody who heard I was movin' out here kept saying I was going to want to move away sooner rather than later. Must be somethin' in the water or something they said."

Cass shrugged, straightening back up again.

AMItotic

 

[saedusk]

Fabulous and Flexible - Saturday Afternoon

"Helloooo, darling," he responded with boundless enthusiasm as he melted like butter straight to the mat, legs loosely crossed. It took no effort for Elliot to fall easily into conversation ninety-nine percent of the time, but when it was about something he enjoyed, it was impossible to shut him up.

"You know, on the way in I thought 'today feels like a balance sort of day,' but now that you mention it, my hips are feeling a bit tight. Fell asleep on the floor with the dog last night, can you believe it? All night on my side on the floor. I felt damn near sixty trying to get up this morning."

AMItoticccc