Yoga: it ain't what it's cracked up to be

When I walked into my Yoga class on Monday night our teacher was as happy as a NOPL employee on a three day weekend. It was a beautiful night and for the first time "ever" we were going to hold classes out of doors. The studio is lovely and cool and located just off of busy South Bay Road.
Did I mention that I am not really a "good" yoga student? I enjoy the exercise part of it but the yoga philosophy does not always jell with my love of the finer things in life (like potato chips and air conditioning). Someone mentioned that certain yoga positions might look strange to passing cars but our instructor would have none of it. After all, we have been taught to leave "negativity and judgement at the door". Okay, I thought, but what about the bugs?? This is Cicero, not the Canyon Ranch Spa. Nine of us followed her out with portable "yoga" music playing on something that looks like a dehumidifier. I might also mention that yoga is not for sissies! It is hard and tiring and sometimes not a pretty sight. Yoga pants are not all that forgiving and I imagine there were some dazed and confused commuters on South Bay Road that night. We were twenty minutes into our class when women to the right of me (closest to the trees) began swatting and swearing (Did they not know the part about leaving negativity at the door?) Our instructor kept asking if people were "okay" and like good little yogi's they all said "yes". Finally she asked if we should go indoors. I was trying to pluck a mosquito out of my head who was trapped in hair spray heaven and yelled out "NOW" as I grabbed my mat and started trotting toward the door. Women of all shapes and sizes came after me, not even waiting for the instructor who was trailing with that cumbersome dehumidifier. Once inside, we started assessing the damage. Six bites, four bites, two bites... nasty little critters had a feast! Our teacher passed around peppermint oil (have these people never heard of Benadryl?) and to my surprise it actually helped for a while. It is three days later and my arm was still red and itchy. I checked in a book of natural healing ( a 25 cent paperback that I purchased at the Friend's book sale) and one remedy for itchy insect bites is a "cut onion". Luckily I had just purchased a Vidalia at Wegman's and am sitting here with a cold slab of onion on my arm as I am blogging. The weird thing is that it actually feels better...no more itching and the swelling has gone down.
So who knows, the yogi's might be onto something. I might be throwing out the Benadryl or just blogging more often.

Namaste and pass the French dressing.