I really dislike being out in the rain. I’ll practice at home to Krishna Das rather than run through the rain to attend a class. In other words, it takes a lot to motivate me to run through the rain. Brianna Taylor’s yoga class on Wednesday was just the motivation I needed to brave the downpour at noon.

Brianna, a very warm and knowledgeable teacher, began class with a fun story about trying out new things (in her case, break dancing) and invited us to keep an open mind as we began our practice. Throughout class, Brianna asked us to shift our perspectives about coming into poses by giving us more possibilities. Surya namaskara was a beautiful sequence as we poured our hearts as offerings to the earth and moved fluidly through each step. Crescent lunges and twists became an offering of our own light to the rainy sky as we dynamically opened our hearts and arms. We then danced from warrior one to devotional to triangle to side angle, and shifted our feet towards the back of the mat to do the same again. Back and forth everyone went with their own breath; it was great to feel the energy created by these dancing warriors.

And although I was soaking wet when I came into class, I quickly forgot about it and smiled as I lost myself in the practice and the sunshine that eventually emerged from behind the clouds. I’ll be there next Wednesday at noon, rain or shine.