Random Act of Yoga

I visited my Mother today. She seemed to enjoy our time together. We haven't had as much time together as some mothers and daughters because of her schizophrenia. For well over thirty years she has lived in places where she has special activities and is supervised. We were separated when I was only a few years old, and have lived in different states since then.

Today we went around to some different places, and then stopped at Whole Foods for some soup. I had a deliciously spiced pumpkin-cashew hot soup, and she chose a cold vegan bean soup. We ate in the well-populated seating area of the store. After we had finished our soup she asked me, after wondering aloud if it was appropriate right after eating (...), if I would do headstand for her. At first I thought about her request, and then I responded that right after eating isn't the best time for headstand. And then I considered her request further. There were a lot of people sitting all around us at Whole Foods, but--so what! My Mother almost never asks me for anything. So I put my wind-breaker jacket down on the cement floor between our table and the next, and I got a small stack of napkins from the dispenser. I looked my Mom in the eye. I got down on my knees at the Whole Foods. I put my forearms down on the jacket with the napkin stack on the floor in the arc created by my interlaced hands, and put my head there. I went up into headstand. I stayed there a little while. I came down.

After a pause I lifted my head up, and picked up the jacket and napkins which had been a coushion for my head against the hard floor. When I sat down again we shared a conspiratorial look and smile that was priceless. It was fun.

When it was over my Mother said that when I was doing headstand everybody relaxed and got quieter. She also heard a man say that he would definitely come back to this store again. And according to my Mom, people were talking to one another from the heart. Isn't that a nice thought!


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