Dominic McKevitt, aka John Lennon Cohen
Local writer Dominic McKevitt has sent us in a piece on his first experience of yoga.
The Lios Dubh man – who writes books under the pen name of John Lennon Cohen – recently joined up with the Dundalk Yoga Collective in Williamson’s Mall.
His thoughts are below:
Did you ever try Yoga?
Well I had my first experience of Yoga last Friday evening in Williamson’s Mall and it was the best one hour I spent in a long time.
I had just seen the advertisement on Facebook one hour before and something just clicked with me to try this exotic eastern tradition so, there was no time to procrastinate, the decision was made. I was only about ten minutes away from the centre so I didn’t begin my journey out till twenty minutes before the class was due to begin and this would give me a leeway of ten minutes. However I didn’t take into account of the amount of traffic the ‘saintly brother’ St Gerard generates and I was almost ten minutes on my road alone as hundreds of cars headed to St Joseph’s Church. This would normally have caused panic within but for an unexplained reason I was relatively calm without the negative impulse to engage in road rage.
I arrived at the rear car park of the mall and the attendant stated the car park would be close before the class ended so I had to go find another place outside to park; another fecking setback that would cause nerves to fray you would think, but no, the serenity remained. I found a place to park and walked as quickly as could; I mention this because I have back problems that greatly restrict my movements, but the attendant wanted to chat. So being the gentleman that I always am, I passed pleasantries with him with my concentration split between his topic and my impending arrival at my first Yoga class. I wondered was this what it is like to be schizophrenic and at the same time feared as I accommodated this fissure all too easy in my mind. Anyway we parted company with ‘have a good night’ and I found the door that he pointed out.
I followed the signs within but I had to climb three flights of stairs that nearly killed me off entirely as my ancient body creaked and struggled with the ascent. I reached the summit but instead of being elated I was a complete wreck what with my neck and lower back reacting badly to my enforced efforts causing a slight spasm which in turn put pressure on my chest and I feared a heart attack was imminent. I had to rest for a while and as I was doing so the Yoga instructor appeared from behind a thick white curtain to welcome her new arrival. Now, I hadn’t a clue what to expect because all that I knew of Yoga was what I read and photographs I saw of persons tying themselves in knots, thus I didn’t know what attire I should don. I noticed that she was not wearing shoes so I slipped mine off and she pointed out a shoe rack for my convenience and than I asked her where will I leave the rest of my clothes!? She gaped at me with curiosity so I quickly offered my tracksuit bottoms that were draped across my arm much to her relief and she told to change in a separate room. I was kind of relieved that I didn’t have to undress in front of anyone as I am definitely not an exhibitionist.
I lifted up the white curtain and entered a long large room that was strategically lit with soft lighting to create a delightful ambience enhanced by gentle meditation music. The room was also adorned with beautiful eastern aesthetic wall hangings, eastern effigies of peace sited in alcoves that brought serenity and life to the otherwise staid white walls. The scene was set perfectly for peace, for tranquillity which was present in abundance.
There were just two other students of Yoga present that were already engaged in the art and as I was late in arriving I missed the introduction. They were all lying flat on mats that were placed in line upon the floor and I took my place already laid out for me.
I lay there silently until I regained my composure both in body and in my mind; the discomfort abated with every passing second and I began to feel completely at ease. The instructor’s name is Mary and she eased us into postures which I am happy to say were not strenuous at all to my frail body that has malfunctioned for a long time now. There was no pain for me as she led us in poses that I managed to do successfully most of the time as we were either lying down, sitting, or just standing and this suited me for sure. Mary is an expert and she showed us some advance positions that seemed to deny gravity but I was enjoying what I was doing and happy that I could. I learned that you go at your own pace and do only what you can do slowly, gently and with ease; unlike the rugged almost military type training that I was used to as an athlete in my youth.
The hour seemed to pass all too quickly and for the last ten minutes we were encouraged to lie flat on our backs while Mary went to each of us and placed a cosy fleece blanket over our bodies and this felt so good. It reminded me of when I was young and my mother tucked me into bed and you knew you were safe as she cared for you and I was experiencing this very same sort of feeling. Mary then led us in a meditation with a gentle yet audible whisper as I closed my eyes and went to a happy land were everything is perfect, a place where all the imperfection and pain in my body and in my mind were taken away now because peace reigned.
This hour was one of the best I have ever experienced in my entire life and I wondered to my self as to why I did not try Yoga before because believe me I have tried everything else!
I would encourage anyone and everyone to try Yoga out as you have everything to gain and nothing to lose because if you are in a rut with a taxing job either mentally or physically or maybe you are between jobs, this is the place for you to unwind and let the world turn without you, if only for an hour and I guarantee you will not regret.
Mary was my instructor for the Friday evening class but there are more there during the entire week in Williamsons Mall, the home of Dundalk Yoga Collective, where a comprehensive timetable is available.
I cannot wait for my next session this Friday coming 7.15pm to 8.15pm.
For more on the Dundalk Yoga Collective visit www.dundalkyogacollective.com
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