Gaileee in tree pose in Mongolia
Two weeks ago, in honor of reaching a milestone of 1,000 Five-Minute Yoga apps sold everywhere from Peru to Saudi Arabia, I proposed a contest: tell me the most exotic place you’ve ever practiced yoga, and you might win one of three pairs of massage balls, generously donated by Halfmoon Yoga Products.
lmagine my surprise to learn how much the readers of this blog travel and how likely you are to break out a pose on the road. Among the 40 entries:
- Jen practiced overlooking Denali (Mt. McKinley) “in the midsummer midnight light of Alaska. The legions of mosquitoes detracted only a smidge from the beauty!”
- Jason pumped gas in half-moon pose.
- Barbara did sun salutations on the beach with penguins, at the very tip of South Africa, where the seas meet.
- Theresa practiced in Pacific Rim National Park, by the open Pacific Ocean.
- Gil did a headstand on Dionisio Point on Galiano Island.
- Lynn practiced on an uninhabited barrier island off the coast of Georgia.
- Sarah backpacked for a year, and had plenty of exotic places to practice. The most exotic? The Perhentian Islands, 10 miles off the coast of Malaysia, near the border with Thailand.
- Mary practiced at the Napo Wildlife Reserve, in Ecuador.
- Beverly took a brave Warrior 3 in Death Valley.
- Janet practiced in Joshua Tree National Park. I can testify that the extraordinary sight of a Joshua tree is enough to inspire an asana session.
- And Gaileee not only practiced, she also taught in Mongolia.
Deciding which three people would win was not easy.
In the end, I settled on: Gailee, because Mongolia pretty much defines exotic – and I liked the picture; Barbara, because anything done with penguins present is in another realm of human experience; and Beverly, because the only time I’ve been to Death Valley was in August, where the weather was like a blast furnace, and I’m pleased to think of someone being inclined to strike a pose in such a barren landscape.
Thank you to everyone who entered.
