This morning as I laid down on my yoga mat to set an intention in Bikram class, my mind took me to a whole new dimension of meditation. Usually, my prayers on the yoga mat before the poses begin are steered towards intentions for my husband to find a good  job, for our health, or often times directed to a loved one.

But on this summer day, in the 108 degree heated room, my third eye lay centered and calm. As I waited for the 26 poses of Bikram at Pura Vida yoga to start, with sweat already dripping down my brow, my mind flashed back to a vision of me being told by the kindergarden teacher to lay down on my blue mat for nap time.  All of the other five year-olds were already down for the count. But I was so scared to rest. Why? I am still not sure. Perhaps because closing my eyes in a room where I couldn’t observe what was going on around me was the root of my anxiety.  Back then, I was fearful of everything and everyone. An abnormally conscientious soul for a child of that age, I acted as if I was five going on 5-0.

Now I am centered and calm as I lay on my mat without a care in the world. I am a 3-5 year old woman going on five.  Child’s pose is a sacred position in yoga. The little girl who once hated laying down on the plastic blue mats  in kindergarden now loves to lay down in a room full of strangers on her big girl yoga mat.

I may not be able to reclaim my woeful childhood. But I hope to share my youthful adulthood joy now with others.  What is your favorite yoga pose and why?