She knocked on his door in the late afternoon. It always felt a little strange when people had their workplace integrated in their home, but she had to admit it just made sense - designating a single room in your house as a yoga studio is simply more convenient than having to rent a space in a nearby gym.
She snapped out of her absent-minded review of her new teacher's business decisions, to find a tall, broad-chested man of middle age looking down on her from the door opening. He wore a grey T-shirt despite the frigid cold of December. It made his rather intimidating amount of biceps a little too obvious for her taste. He smiled at her kindly though as he jovially called "Come in!". When he stepped to the side to usher her in, all she could see was a blank hallway with two rather minimal steel-backed chairs.
She gingerly passed by him, squeezing through the not too wide doorway.
"Hi, I'm here for a private session?" She made it sound like a question, but it was obvious she was in the right place.
"Yes, of course, the last one today. It's getting dark already," he said conversationally.
Yay, inane small talk! She was so thrilled.
"That does tend to happen, yeah," she said brightly, as she generally didn't feel comfortable antagonizing people no matter her inner thoughts.
"Come right this way", and he led her into a small gymnasium. There was soft padding on the floor, mirrors across two walls, gym equipment in a corner, and a climbing rack against the furthest wall. Pretty standard stuff really.
She stood in the middle of the room feeling a little lost, and then remembered she should probably take off her backpack and winter jacket. It was really quite warm in here, she noticed.
She stripped down to her sweater and was already wearing sweat pants.
He slowly looked her up and down, a smile spreading across his face. "Great" he said by way of judgment, but she wasn't sure what he was judging. "You'll have to take your sweater and pants off too, please, or I can't see what I'm working with."
"Oh..." she hesitated. "I can't. I'm not wearing anything underneath. I don't like sports bras, and it was really cold out."
He nods. "That's ok. Do you need me to turn up the temperature before you change?"
This was entirely not her objection! She felt flustered ... His eyes were boring into her, expecting her to comply. She wasn't a prude or anything, but this seemed rather extreme. She looked up at him again, and didn't know what to do... 'Just act normal' she thought to herself, as she started stripping while murmuring "no, that's ok."
A few moments later she was standing naked in front of him but for her red lace panties. He looked her up and down again, his eyes lighting up.
"You mentioned on the phone that you would like to improve your breathing technique. We'll start off with a small meditation, but first I would like to get a feel of where your breath is going now before we begin."
He knelt down on the floor. "Please do as I do".
She knelt down, facing him.
He then took a deep breath through his nose, while looking into her eyes. She followed suit, feeling slightly mesmerized. He took another breath, a little slower, the exhale stretching slightly farther.
She breathed with him.
The next and the next breath came slower and slower, till they were in a rhythm.
"Good," he said. "Please keep going." He then slowly stood up and moved to stand behind her. She could see him looming over her kneeling form in the mirrors on the wall facing her.
He then knelt behind her and put his hand on her shoulders, feeling them rise and fall to the count of three breaths. Then his hands slid down and wrapped around the bottom of her rib cage. She could feel her breath expanding into them.
Then his hands moved forward and he placed his hands on her belly, cradling it.
"Breath is life." he said softly, "And the belly holds the most life of all. This is where life is born, where a woman sends her energy to give to the universe. Can you feel it?"
She blushed slightly. "I ... I ... I'm not sure."
