Today's Guest Blogger: Everyone can do a chaturanga dandasana

So last night, 3 friends and I took a moderately difficult yoga class. I say difficult because the instructor asked us to shoot directly from a plank pose to a crow pose (pictured on the left). For folks who don't know what I'm talking about... imagine being in a push up with arms slightly bent and shooting your knees bent on top of your forearms and balancing on your hands. This takes years of practice people... The levels across our foursome varied from novice to intermediate. I don't think any one of us did the whole plank pose to crow pose, although some of us did make a great effort landing in a forward roll. But overall, the class was a great success especially with a crisp bottle of chardonnay and sushi to top off the night. So below are some key points from last night's dinner conversation about our great yoga adventure...

• Yoga is a great equalizer... In the room of 50 or so yogi-wannabees, folks from different walks of life included sailors, hippies, armymen, triathletes, and media buyers. We all did our downward dogs with all four paws planted on the mat.

• Not everyone in the room knows what a chaturanga dandasana, so it should be explained if you expect it to be done.

• Happy baby is a pretty great pose, happy baby pose with legs straight is even greater.

• Yoga instructors really need to make sure they remind us how to breathe properly throughout yoga asanas because some of us who are busy trying to do the poses forget to breathe.

• Yoga can be done while chewing gum, although it is not recommended. Out of our yoga foursome, two out of the four were chewing gum and blowing bubbles throughout their practice.

• If your "slightly free" neighbor farts during a yoga class, as there are lots of positions that conduce this expulsion, a laughing fit will ensue. And it is just SOO MUCH worse if the farter says 'excuse me'... Laughing fit will worsen and you will be forced to leave the room.

In all seriousness though, we all really enjoyed our practice and are making a commitment to continue our path to enlightenment. For all you ladies especially, yoga is an excellent way of building strength and muscle tone as opposed to lifting weights. In yoga, you're using your own body weight as weights.

My 3 yogi friends and I hope all the 'fat is wack' participants engage in a bit of yogic acitivity and incorporate it into their competition as it will provide endless hours of downward dog joy.

Namaste...