Tweak

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Tweak says, "All Hail Fed-Ex John"

Karin Shepherd | Tiamat (sheltering_sky) wrote in paxletalelogs,
@ 2011-09-05 20:44:00

Entry tags:

there's magic in the water that attracts all men
Who: Sean & Karin.
What: Two strangers enjoy a little downward facing dog on the beach. Mrowr.
Where: The beach!
When: 7:30 AM.
Warnings: None yet.

Karin's plan had been to be early. Not excruciatingly, painfully, socially awkwardly early, but only moderately so. Early enough to choose the best spot to see the sun slowly marching upward, to place her mat down in the sand closest to this new instructor. She had taken little enough time to get ready, leaving her apartment without a stitch of makeup, her hair loose around her face in a thick and wild mane, her clothes a hastily thrown on combination of fitted workout shorts and a loose white tank. But when she arrived she realized there were no other students, yet, her only companions on the beach a few lone joggers and screaming, wheeling birds. She narrowed her eyes, yoga mat rolled beneath her restless arm, and trudged out onto the beach all the same. Now that she was out here, a rare day off stretching beautifully out before her, there was no reason at all to turn back. Sean had to turn up sooner or later, and even if he did not, the day was breaking beautiful and bright, and she could find countless other ways to spend it.

"Well," she said, sighing at no-one in particular. "Better early than never?" She knelt down in white sand, hoping she had at least approximated the place they had been meant to meet. It looked like the place, and was within walking distance of their building; she had a good feeling about it all, but her inner voice had lied to her before. Leaning over the packed earth she stretched out a slender arm, sweeping away excess sand and a few stray pebbles, then moved to spread her mat out across the smoothed surface.

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eternalearth
2011-09-07 02:41 am UTC (link)

"Of course. If at any point you need to stop, just relax in student pose until you're ready to continue okay?" Sean smiled her way as he watched her stretch for a moment, getting a bit distracted as he watched her. Sean moved so that he was flat on his back and lifted his feet up slowly, stretching his arms out over his head as he did so. "About 5 years now, and I've been taking yoga since college, so about 7."

After he had stretched a bit, he moved so that he was sitting with his feet crossed, flat on his mat. "Namaste, hello and good morning. I always like to start off morning yoga with a purpose, kind of a devotion, something to focus on. What do you say we devote this session to Pax and new friendships." Cheesy, very cheesy, but he meant it, and that was obvious as he smiled her way.

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sheltering_sky
2011-09-07 11:54 am UTC (link)

She accepted the sentiment at face value, assuming his sincerity, as she was wont to do. Nodding, she moved to match his posture on the mat, letting conscious thought wane as she emptied her thoughts. This, she thought, was the real benefit of the exercise: It provided her a brief span in which she was not prisoner to her thoughts, trapped in the endless cycle of fear and uncertainty that had plagued her of late. She could have hugged him for affording her this respite. But that, perhaps, was for another time. Still, she smiled at the thought, and drew a deep breath, exhaling on an audible sigh. "Pax and new friendships," she repeated.

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eternalearth
2011-09-07 02:34 pm UTC (link)

Sean took a long deep breath, exhaling just as long. He put his hands together and held them at his heart, nodding to Karin. "Let's see how long we can take a deep breath in. Count as you breathe in, and make sure you exhale for the same number no matter how long it may seem. Controlling our breath is so important." Normally Sean would watch his students and not participate the entire time, but he was going to do the yoga with her. He continued the warm up with Karin, doing various stretches, talking in a soothing soft voice the entire time.

"Before we move into the regular exercise, how much time do you have before you have to get to work?"

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sheltering_sky
2011-09-08 02:48 am UTC (link)

Her motions echoed his, matching him gesture for gesture. At first the deep breathing seemed to help. She was able to keep a long count, pleased with the lung capacity her constant swimming and running had afforded her.

"Oh, I'm free until tonight," she said, smiling warmly. "No need to rush anything at all." Her mind wandered, leaving their controlled breathing, their measured thoughts, and spread out toward the ocean. A swim after their session sounded wonderful, she thought; long, leisurely strokes that carried her out, out, ever toward that blessed island. Dark secrets lingered there, a pulsing, throbbing heartbeat that beckoned hers to join it. She swallowed hard in a dry throat, blinking to clear the thought from her eyes. "No rush," she repeated, her voice trailing off. Another breath, she thought, deeper this time; perhaps she could beat this, and perhaps Sean could help.

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eternalearth
2011-09-08 03:10 am UTC (link)

“Good, if I don’t have a clock right in front of me, I get distracted and lose all sense of time, so it’s good to know that time is of no importance.” Sean went up into downward facing dog, his heels falling perfectly flat against his mat due to his years of practice. There was a smoothness in his motions, a seemless fluidity that had taken years to master. “Up into Adho Mukha Svanasana, downward facing dog. Make sure that you are breathing deeply, exhaling for as long as you are breathing in, counting is a distraction from any sensations you might be feeling. As with anything, push that extra bit, just to see how far you are able to fly, you never know what you can do if you don’t try.” Sean smiled and moved down into a plank position, holding it, and then down he went into cobra on the mat. “Repeat this, downward facing dog, plank, meet the ground , cobra, go as fast or as slow as you like, but don’t forget to breathe.”

Yoga was vital for Sean, it helped put his mind at ease and helped to train him to push himself as far as he was able to. It was also an extremely positive way to start the day and gave him an encouraging outlook on what was to come. For Sean, yoga also was a time to quiet his mind, all of those racing thoughts that entered his brain would float away. Like, what if he had continued school as an accountant? Would he have a lot of money, a beautiful wife with 2.5 children and not have to struggle to make ends meet? What would have happened if he had continued the charade of being catholic and his parents still spoke to him, would he have that loving family support he missed? The truth was that Sean wouldn’t have been happy as an accountant, it wasn’t the path he was supposed to take, he was meant to take the rough and bumpy path and have to live off of peanut butter some days, and if his parents didn’t love him for who he was, then it was their loss, not his.

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sheltering_sky
2011-09-09 02:49 am UTC (link)

It took Karin very little time and even less thought to realize Sean had found his true calling. His voice was steady, even, as soothing as the waves at her back - though in a very different way. She wondered if this was what her patients meant when they told her she put them at ease. If so, she was doing a sight better than she had ever dared to hope. The tension did not yet fully ebb from her limbs, though she found breathing an easier task with every passing command. She followed his instruction, moving from one posture to another with an effortless fluidity, focused wholly on each deeply indrawn breath, each slowly exhaled sigh.

You never know what you can do... She could swim to the island, she thought. Shae had pulled her from the water once before, but Shae was gone now. With the strange hours Fee now worked, there would be times when she would not be there to dissuade her, either. A few more weeks of training to get her lung capacity right, to school her muscles to resist cramps or ignore them entirely, and she might make the trip, Coast Guard be damned. She could get there, and perhaps with Sean's help, sooner rather than later.

She slipped into cobra pose, holding it, feeling the comfortable stretch in her arms and lower back. She looked back to her teacher, allowing herself a small smile. "You have no idea how badly I've needed this," she breathed, speaking on a long exhalation. "You're a godsend."

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eternalearth
2011-09-09 03:10 am UTC (link)

"Oh trust me, I have some idea. I do this every single morning. If it's raining I do it in my apartment, but no matter what the weather, you are more than welcome to join me." To hear that he was a godsend, completely flattered him, but it also struck him. He always believed that there was a reason for everything, that nothing was luck, and he was starting to see the reason he had been brought to Newport already, it made him feel fulfilled in some way. Of course he didn't exactly know how to vocalize that, so instead he simply smiled, looking up at her from a cobra position.

"Finish a cycle and go back to student pose as you watch the next pose. It's called Ardha Chandrasana, half moon. Sean got into the complicated pose, putting his weight on his right leg on right arm, while his left arm was straight up in the air, and his left leg was extended up into the air. "Your arm straight, not bent, head lifted to the sky. Once you get up in the pose, push yourself." Sean got out of the pose and went over to Karin, helping her to be in the perfect position with his hands.

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sheltering_sky
2011-09-10 12:53 am UTC (link)

She smiled at his offer, assuming no deeper meaning in his words than what was present at first glance. She had need of more friends in the building, there was no getting around that. His initial, ill advised announcement regarding his drug habits did not deter her; after all, her beloved sisters had gotten into far worse in their day. She did not know him well enough to lecture, but in time that would come. Such things came from a place of love and concern rather than judgment, though not everyone, especially at first, could read such nuance in her tone. With such thoughts coiling through her troubled mind, thankfully pushing out her obsession with her own problems in favor of pondering someone else's.

She turned her thoughts to his instruction, returning to student pose as she watched him perform the complex maneuver. She was surprised when he unfolded his lanky body from the posture, and still more so when she felt his hands on her. But in spite of the faint flush dusting her cheeks, she could not truthfully have said she found it entirely displeasing. Fiona would mock her now, she knew, would laugh at her juvenile blush over something so small and meaningless. The thought bolstered her somewhat; helped her maintain her cool composure as she eased her body into the required pose. Luckily she did not strain to hold it, her body taut and toned from relentless exercise, but when she had accomplished the posture, she pushed herself as he had said. It felt good to stretch out toward the sky, down toward the sand and sea; it felt like she belonged there, stretched and split between those realms. She wondered at the strange thought, laughing aloud at herself.

"Thanks," she said, glancing up to where his hand rested on her leg. "We've gotten some rough injuries in the hospital from things like this. Things even less challenging than this, to be honest."

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eternalearth
2011-09-10 05:54 am UTC (link)

"Well they obviously didn't have the right instuctor." He didn't mean that in a cocky way, to say he was better than other instructors out there, but good instructors monitored tricky moves like this and taught you how to get out of the pose safely. "When you're ready to come out of the pose, simply set the leg that is up in the air down slowly, then your hand. You should then be in downward facing dog. When you're ready, we're going to the last active pose, Virabhadrasana II, Warrior 2, common but effective." Sean got into warrior 2. For such a common pose, it actually wasn't all that simple. It was very easy to get wrong, and when it was wrong, it hurt, more than usual anyway. However, it was worth it, because in warrior 2, Sean felt empowered, like an ancient chinese soldier that could do absolutely anything. "Do you see how my knee is in line with my ankle? That's the tricky part."

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sheltering_sky
2011-09-11 12:07 am UTC (link)

Sean was right to have faith in his abilities. The longer they worked, the more easily she found the movements came. The racing of her mind did not still, precisely, but it lost some of its frenetic quality. She found it easier to concentrate, to focus on things outside herself, to feel a sense of connection with her body and the world around her that she had long counted lost.

Karin nodded as he spoke, wide green eyes taking in the subtleties of his motion. She made a concerted effort to match his movements precisely; each fluid shift, each smooth transition. She let her body slide into the position, careful of her knee. A wrong motion here could put her out of running for some time, and the thought of losing her daily jogs along the beach was anathema to her. But by his example she managed well enough, breathing deeply of the salt air as she held the position, looking to her instructor for approval or correction.

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eternalearth
2011-09-11 03:31 pm UTC (link)

"Perfect! Now come to stand in Tadasana, mountain pose. Everything straight like a mountain, feet firmly connected with the ground." Sean demonstrated it as he spoke. In this pose he always felt connected with the earth like it was calling to him, had something to say, if only he could understand. For some reason as he stood in this pose on the beach at Pax for the first time, the sensation was even stronger than it ever had been, and he wasn't sure if he liked the tingling sensation that was occurring in his legs. "Now we will do once more balance pose. We've already done the half moon, but we'll do one standing this time." Sean quickly got into the pose, focusing on the horizon, since it was one of the only things at the beach that was not moving. "Vrksasana, tree pose. Put your palms flat together at your heart, and lift one leg, pressing it with all of your might against the other leg. The leg connected to the earth is flat and straight, like a tree trunk, supporting your other leg. Look at something non moving, not me, it helps."

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sheltering_sky
2011-09-11 11:27 pm UTC (link)

Karin readily obeyed. In Vrksasana he swayed unsteadily for a moment, but recovered to find her center of balance quickly enough. It was a simpler thing as she looked at him, drawing from the strength he seemed to share; it seemed she could even sense a new surge of strength within him as he adopted this pose. It was a comfort of a sort, reassuring her that for now, at least, she was in the right hands. Still, after a time she found him an uncertain guidepoint, as he had said; she looked over his shoulder, gazing at the city's skyline at his back. She felt her fears ebb away, slow and steady as the tide, leaving only a new, intensely desirable tiredness in its wake. She breathed deeply, tasting the fresh air on her tongue as she did, the warm wind blowing away from them all the sounds and smells of the crowded city beyond.

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eternalearth
2011-09-12 09:01 pm UTC (link)

Once they balanced with both legs being lifted, Sean smiled and set his leg down, looking at Karin. "Now for a relaxation pose, Savasana, the reclining pose. You lie down on your back on your mat, spread your legs and spread your arms wide. Make sure your head is looking up, but your eyes are closed.Be aware of how still you are," Sean got into the pose, putting his legs close together and his arms over his head. "If you would rather have your legs together, do so, arms at your side, above your head, whatever feels best, but be aware of each and every breath, relaxing into the earth."

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sheltering_sky
2011-09-14 01:24 am UTC (link)

Karin felt no self consciousness in obeying, no shame in letting herself go. She lay back, feeling the warm embrace of the sand at her back, its heat pulsing, alive, through her thin yoga mat. She stretched her arms above her head, her spine bowing as she stretched, until the small of her back arched up from the ground. With her next exhalation she felt herself sink deeper still, her softly splayed legs and upraised arms feeling beautifully, deliciously heavy. In. Out. In. Out. She was aware, it seemed; more aware than ever before. One with the sky, with the sand, with the water beyond. Her next exhalation took every breath from her body, and with it, the last of her woes. She might have fallen asleep there; she might have died. She felt only tenuously tied to her body, ready to flee its grasp at any moment.

"Thank you," she breathed, not knowing to whom she ascribed that sentiment.

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eternalearth
2011-09-14 02:39 am UTC (link)

"You're quite welcome," Sean whispered, assuming the thank you was for him. Of course it occurred to him after he said it, that the thank you could've been to anyone or anything, or even just a generic thank you. Sean stood up and walked over to Karin, offering to help her up. "What do you say to breakfast?" She was quite gorgeous, and as he shook sand off of his yoga mat, rolling it in the air, he couldn't help but try. The worst she could do was shoot him down and call him a silly child.

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sheltering_sky
2011-09-14 11:49 pm UTC (link)

She breathed deeply, slowly, letting the question sink in. It came to her as if from a great distance, filtering through layers she did not wholly understand, strata within herself she had not known existed. When she spoke, it was like someone else spoke for her.

"Breakfast sounds great," she said, airily, dreamily. "As long as I don't have to decide where we go." Smiling, she rose from the mat, brushing grains of sand from her backside. She spent far more time on the mat itself, carefully rolling it up, her hands sliding soft over its length as she wound it tight. She looked to him, green eyes distant - seeing him, but not. "Ready?"

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eternalearth
2011-09-15 03:09 pm UTC (link)

"Actually I was going to offer to cook. I have some food I need to use up soon. Is that okay or would you rather go somewhere?" He didn't want to push too much, but he did have a dozen eggs that were going to go bad in the next few days and some vegetables that only had another day left in their lives. That was the negative thing about eating a lot of fresh products, it didn't last as long. He loved how absolutely at peace Karin appeared, it mirrored how he felt inside on a daily basis, and he loved being able to spread that nirvana to others.

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