I had a dream last night that I was eating sandpaper. More accurately, someone was trying to shove sandpaper down my throat.
Sorta weird I guess, but this comes from the chick who dreams entire episodes of television shows. Episodes that never actually aired- I make them up in my sleep.
So…now that we have that piece of crazy out to examine…
Sandpaper. Ugh. I was choking and there was a bright light in my face.
Sweet dreams are made of these….
I opened my eyes with my hands rubbing my neck.
Swallowed once. Ouch. Sore.
4:30am.
Trance like I pad in comfy socks to the kitchen. Must. Drink. Tea.
Oh no- what’s that I feel? Fever?
No. way.
Vitamin C. Zicam. Green tea. Garlic pills. I was moving full steam to stop this thing in its tracks.
(I was moving as a snail’s pace, as it was 4:30, but you’re gettin’ my drift)
The guilty party? My hot yoga studio if I had to guess- there were a few sick people in class the day before. You could hear them cough during pranayama deep breathing.
Coughing up into the air and not into an elbow. That, mixed with pools of sweat and open pores- I was a human petrie dish. Come on in germs!
Listen- keeping it real- I practice when I’m sick. And since I’ve made this transition to teaching yoga- short of a house sitting on my chest Wizard of Oz style, I’m showing up for class. Period.
But there are precautions I think everyone should take if they head to the studio less than 100%.
You should stay home if you can. A sick body needs time to heal. But realistically, 30 day challengers, yoga warriors and teachers show up.
I wish we could agree on a Yogis Code of Conduct for illness:
- Thou shalt not cough into the air, hot room or cold
- Thou shalt wash my hands and use hand sanitizer before touching anything or anyone
- Thou shalt cough into the crook of my elbow if I must cough
- Thou shalt tell my teacher if I am sick, this way my teacher will not touch me and transfer germs onto my fellows yogis
- Thou shalt tell my class if I am sick (teachers) and not make hands-on adjustments
Life must go on even when we aren’t feeling up to it- but as good yogis let’s try and do our best to keep our fellow passengers safe.
This is yoga. And sometimes it gets the cooties.
Namaste y’all.
