Silence of Mouth and Mind 2

So, where were we?  Ah, Tamara, yes, I remember now.  The male in me appreciated certain of her features such that I idly considered her presence could improve the quality of my classes.

"There is something you should know," she said.

Here it comes, I thought.  Married.  Or batting for the other team.  I mustered the most nonchalant front I could and answered, "What would that be?"

"The sex."

Well, that gave me a flush I couldn't hide.  Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of her sentence.

"The sexes are sexarated," she said.  It took me an awkward amount of time to process the rest of these words.  Was this some weird vipassana ritual?  Did I even want to know?

"Sexarated?" I managed, falling back on the old trick of repeating what's said when the faculties overload.   I really hoped I didn't look as stupid as I felt.

"Separated, Dallas.  Get it together.  Men and women are placed in separate wings," she clarified.  "Do you want to rethink your commitment?"

"What's a little commitment between friends?"  I blurted.  I didn't know what that meant.  I hoped she didn't either.

"It's no small commitment to remain silent for 10 days," she replied, getting us back on track.

"Well, you know what they say, 'Go big or don't go at all.'" A grainy vision cloud of Al Bundy at a filling station flitted across the insides of my eyes.

She gave me a funny look.  Were we sharing the same vision?  Or was I unexpectedly cliche?  How cliche can a yogi legitimately be?  A topic for another time.  Never brilliant to rely on t-shirt wisdom.

"You don't strike me as a typical yoga teacher, Dallas," she revealed.  Unexpectedly cliche, obviously.  I searched for a rescuing witticism...

"I've been known to bowl students over."  Well, it sounded good before I said it.  Her pale look suggested she was calculating the damage to her insurance premium from injured enrollees.  Things were going downhill faster than Cindy Nelson skiing Lutsen.  It's surprisingly hard to shut up when the earth crumbles beneath you.  Silence as a lifestyle was growing ever more attractive.

How big a commitment is 10 days of silence?  The answer...soon.

-D