Some years ago, I was invited to teach a yoga-style class at a local pub down at the Port.
Now, teaching yoga in a pub is already a little different from teaching it in a studio.
Especially when beer is included with the membership.
I figured if we were going to combine yoga and beer, we might as well have some fun with it.
So I came up with a plan.
We were going to defend the Port from a pirate invasion.
Warrior poses suddenly had a purpose
The pub was upstairs, overlooking the waterfront.
Perfect location for spotting an approaching enemy fleet.
I built the class around an imaginary adventure. We weren’t simply going to stand around doing yoga poses. We had a mission.
The Port was under attack.
And we were the only thing standing between the pirates and whatever terrible things pirates might do once they got ashore.
Fortunately, yoga has a whole collection of Warrior poses.
I doubt whoever came up with those poses anticipated they’d eventually be used to defend a small Pacific Northwest port from imaginary pirates.
But there we were.
We moved through our Warrior positions, preparing for battle.
Then came the archery.
We drew our imaginary bows, took aim at the invading pirates, and let the arrows fly.
Some of our defenders were doing this with beers in their hands.
Which probably wouldn’t have impressed a medieval military commander, but we weren’t exactly operating under normal battlefield conditions.
Apparently, somebody documented the battle
One of the wonderful things about this particular class is that photographs survived.
About a hundred of them, as I recall.
Including pictures of our brave defenders firing arrows at the approaching pirate fleet.
I don’t know how many yoga instructors have photographic evidence of their students defending a harbor against pirates.
Probably not many.
And I suspect even fewer had to account for the beer.
Not every class needs to be serious
I’ve always enjoyed finding different ways to get people moving.
Sometimes that means carefully working through a difficult movement. Sometimes it means experimenting with resistance or finding a better way to stretch.
And sometimes it means inventing a pirate invasion.
The people who came to that pub weren’t signing up for a conventional yoga studio experience.
They were there to enjoy themselves.
So I gave them something to enjoy.
We moved. We stretched. We practiced balance and Warrior poses.
And somewhere along the way, we saved the Port.
At least, I assume we did.
I don’t remember hearing about any successful pirate landings afterward.