A Journey Into Self

Tara Stiles led the Feel Good Gang through 101 days of yoga, teaching movements and life lessons in the midst of the pandemic.

As the creaky, ancient bus crossed the river westbound toward campus, I attempted to remember the last time I had felt so calm.

A weekend of training for my university’s residence life staff culminated in a yoga session, which was held in a repurposed space with vaulted ceilings; the kind in which individual specks of dust catch the eye as they float skyward.

Along side my fellow resident assistants and head residents, I had moved my body through a series of poses of varying degrees of difficulty while decked out in basketball shorts and a tank top. The session culminated with us lying on our backs as the instructor guided us in meditation.

I fell asleep.

This was unheard of for me, as my baseline amount of stress weighs approximately 16 tons. I typically cannot be comfortable in a crowded room, much less engage in physical activity without worrying during every individual fraction of a second.

Yoga? Meditation? Closing my eyes around a bunch of people I hardly know while I’m laying down? No thank you.