Between Brain and Breath

“Point and flex. Point and flex.” Andrea’s cheery voice encourages me as I lay, flat on my back, one leg straight in the air. A tiny rivulet of sweat drips from my pits. I’m in the fourth week of a month-long intensive and it feels good to say that I feel good. My back muscles are stronger than they were a month ago. I smile as I flex and then... a cramp seizes my foot. Yikes! I grit my teeth to power through, trying to point, but it only gets worse. I lower my leg, humbled. Flexing and pointing is off the table. I wiggle my foot, and breathe through the pain until it subsides.