So I teach yoga sometimes. In case some of you didnt know. Tonight I told my sweet class to do a chair pose. Then I started to laugh. The class theme compassion, or as I posted yesterday, the mantra was, May I not be an asshole. (It really was the theme, ask anyone that was there tonight.) Anyway, I started to laugh and asked them if they wanted to hear a story. Theyre a cool group- I really enjoy this class- They said, yes, tell us the story in their double pigeon pose. So I told them the story about leading a retreat in Mexico a few years ago. The people on my retreat had started to set up cameras around the studio. They asked me if I minded. But come on, you guys know me. I didnt mind. Im thinking: Videos to post on Facebook- yeaaaaa! So they set up video camera. Which I shouldve thought was weird. But didnt. I turned to the ocean (it was a gorgeous studio nestled in the trees) and do my Jewish/Baptist preacher in a revival tent/poet/philosopher thing (weirdly Ive been called both a rabbi and a Baptist preacher.) Im going on and on, standing there facing the sea talking about this or that. Compassion, kindness, forgiveness, the importance of having a sense of humor. Whatever it was. And I tell them to another chair in between my philosophizing. And I turn around. And there is a roomful of asses faces me. Pants down. They were all mooning me. One of the few times in my life I was utterly speechless. It took a minute to register what was happening. Butts! All of them. Theyd coordinated it somehow so they all mooned me at the same time. My first response was to moon them back. So I did. I have video to prove all of this but due to the fact that one girls on the retreat was a working actress on a t.v. show- no can do with the posting. Youll just have to trust me. It was brilliant and I felt proud. Look at this, I attract people with a gdamn sense of humor, I thought. I felt good about that. Still do. Later, they confessed that they plotted it at lunch as I sat right next to them and because I am hard of hearing I didnt hear them. I had a whole retreat of people that were willing to drop their pants on the third chair pose ( that was the cue.) They called it full moon pose rather than half moon pose which is another pose altogether. Now thats commitment. Thats not taking yourself too seriously, and who doesnt need more of that? Its also trust, because if just one person bailed, if just one person chickened out at the last minute with I cant or what will they think- it wouldnt have had the same effect. Its one of my favorite memories to date. And yes, some of those asses Id rather have never seen. But hell, it was so worth it. So my friend, the comedian Steve Bridges, who may or may not have been the mastermind behind it all, died right after that retreat. That was the last time I saw him. On the way to Mexico, wed sat together at the airport. As we boarded the plane he looked at me and said, I have a great life, Jen. I think back to how gleefully shocked I was at the mooning, at how hard I laughed, how I had a roomful of people willing to let themselves look like fools. It reminded me of my father. He was famous for mooning at parties. Every party hed sneak outside. Then: thered be the ass in the glass. People loved it. At the time, as a kid, Id hated it. Id be so embarrassed that Id hide upstairs, under the bed with all the coats on it. Ive been thinking about Steve lately again. Thinking about those moments we have people to thank for. Even people long gone. Those moments that made us come alive and go: yes, yes, this is it. This is everything. For a while I couldnt say chair pose without getting that visual of the asses and then Id cry because I missed him but I also laughed because it was so damn funny so Id be kind of crying and laughing and trying to teach a bloody yoga class at the same time so I felt nonplussed, disoriented, confused- which is to say: human. But tonight as I asked them to do a chair pose and I thought of the memory of them mooning, I just laughed. And I was so happy when they said they wanted to hear the story. And they all all clapped and laughed and promised they wouldnt ever moon me. And I thought about how the very best parts of us, those moments that make us go: Yes, yes, this is it. This is everything, well, they become our legacy if we let them. They dont have to die if we are wiling to keep bringing them back into the world. If we are willing to keep sharing our stories- theres a chance they can live forever. I plan to never stop bringing those back into the world. And you know what? When you allow for that, when you really listen as someone shares about his day, or tells you about her father, or a moment in Mexico where 20 bare asses faced her like a firing squad- well, its like you were there, and whats better than that? I mean, doesnt me telling you that Steve said to me, with his backpack slung over his shoulder and a little sweat on his upper list from running to catch the flight, I have a great life, Jen, doesnt that make you know him just a little? And arent you made better for it? ps Thanks to all who were in that class tonight. I feel like I hit the jackpot. You guys are big-hearted, caring, lovely people and if you do decide to moon me, well, Id be okay with it. xo jen jenniferpastiloff.
Posted on: Thu, 01 May 2014 05:49:21 +0000