Round 3 Complete--Yoga in Georgetown

We're at sort of a halfway point in my treatment--I finished the third of six planned rounds of chemotherapy today, and what a beautiful day it is.

I arrived at 9:20 for an 11:00 appointment, hoping I could sneak in early. My hopes were realized--when I reached the fifth floor infusion area (the seventh floor Trials area where I normally infuse is closed on Saturday), I was practically the only patient there. I did see a lot of familiar faces from the Trials area though. Jameela was there, as was Mercedes, Rasheeda, and Sophia. It was old home week. The fifth floor area is much more open and public than the trials area. I was in an open bay with five chairs, all of which filled up while I was there.

Once it became apparent that I would finish earlier than planned, I pulled out my fabulous new cell phone and got busy looking for a yoga class. My phone has a combo GPS/Yellow Pages, allowing me to ask the question "which yoga studio is closest to my current position?". As luck/kismet would have it, there is a studio about 10 minutes walking distance from the hospital--Spiral Flight Yoga. I called the studio, only to get an answering machine, which told me that the best way to reach them was via email, giving the email address. I used Magic Phone to email the studio, and got a return message that they had a class starting at 11:15. My chemo would be finished by 10:30, so I was glad that Liz talked me into bringing my mat and other gear with me. As soon as I was unhooked and unplugged, I beelined it down to the parking garage, grabbed my gym bag and mat from the Mini, and hoofed it to Wisconsin street.

After a beautiful 10-minute walk and a little searching, I found the studio and signed in for the class. There were about nine other students. Our instructor, Naomi, turned out to be one of the best instuctors I've yet had, and definitely the funniest and most entertaining. Without going into too much yoga-ese, she led a great, fun, and informative class. I got more insight and personal instruction from Naomi in a one-hour class than I had in the last three months from my Pax River instructor.

The high point of the class for me was being "volunteered" by Naomi to demonstrate a half-handstand--basically a handstand with the feet supported against a wall. Let the record show that I'd never done a half-handstand before. When done properly, the body forms an inverted "L". As done by me, it looked like a slightly crooked, lopsided "L". Naomi talked me through the demo, and the class was kind enough to give me a round of applause afterward. Then we all did half handstands. I will definitely find occasion to make this class again.

After class, I took a very roundabout walk back to the car, meandering through Georgetown, around to and up the 'Exorcist Steps', and then to the car. Probably about three to four miles altogether. You can't complain when immediately after chemotherapy you can do an hour yoga class and a three mile walk.

I'm now in Annapolis, waiting for Liz and Robbie to join me. Liz is running a half-marathon tomorrow morning. They are currently at home, where the two of them got to watch a large black snake eat a nest full of Titmouse (that's a bird) babies while the mommy Titmouse flew around screaming. Robbie was a little upset, but also somewhat fascinated. Looking at the picture to the right, and knowing the height of that tree, I'm guessing that's a seven- to eight-foot black snake; not the biggest we've had, but still impressive.


I'm at the Borders Bookstore, catching up on the blog and on a little work. Hope you all have as good a weekend as I'm having.