sophieite

sophie is from france. that is why all her words sound like they have rs and i have trouble sometimes making out what she's saying. but, i have come to regard her with the enthusiasm of a devotee following a guru. i realize this afresh after seeing her tonight for the first time in a couple months.

it's not that i want to like anyone that much, believe me. i'd rather be my own little island, at least in my mind. but when i find someone who exudes such calm, who seems to be the center of the universe, it is hard for me to miss any opportunity to experience that.

mind you, i'm not a hard core yoga person. i just do it because my back locks up like rusty old rotars if i don't. even tonight, before class, i could feel myself locking down into some semblance of vetebral gridlock. not good.

so, i arrive early, and am met with a sensory assault the likes of which i no longer subject myself to. the aerobics or boot camp guy has the overenthusiastic music cranked up to ear splitting level and is hollering over it at the attendees of his class. why these people don't just turn the tunes down and ratchet down their voices accordingly, i don't know. but i guess, some people need a good solid yelling at on a regular basis makes them feel motivated or something. personally, it drives me away.

of course i peeked in the class to see who the hell it was yelling so loud and making such a racket, mostly so i could avoid that class and instructor at all costs. but then i retreated to a window nearby and curled up to look out.

that is, until sophie walks in. tall and tan, freshly back from france. hesitant in her english, which, no one really cares if she can't come up with the word bellows on her own. it's just her presence that draws us, or at least me, i'm sure. she wanders in like some freshly emerged goddess and stands there smiling, making small talk with the group of women who have gathered.

of course, i'm going over to the group to hear what she has to say. something about her grandchildren. and i just stand there smiling. so good, so infinitely good to have her back, i cannot tell you.

the subs were decent. hell, one of them was maria. and i love maria. but maria ain't sophie. nobody is sophie. and while i was lamenting my schedule having changed so i will miss sophie's thursday morning class, she tells me tonight before i leave that she will be teaching two new classes both of which fall on days i'm available.

but you have to pay for them,

she says.

of course, i don't care about that. to have three hours of yoga a week with sophie is worth any price. truly. and while tonight i did struggle to figure out what poses she wanted us in, i left feeling refreshed, alive, grateful. and that is why i do yoga. that is why i attend whatever classes with sophie i can. she has this way of guiding me without even trying. some people have that about them. i've never been much of a follower. i'm not a good student in many ways, for many reasons. but sophie just leads, and i trust her. i want to see where she will take me next.