It's Easy to be Zen when you Drive a Beemer

Last week, 100 yoga practitioners descended on Edgewater Park with their rolled up mats, designer shades, and bottles of Evian. The day marked the beginning of the Summer Solstice. By Hindu tradition, the yogis were there to perform 108 salutations to the sun. But most weren’t exactly sure of the day’s meaning, preferring to concentrate on how buff their arms looked while performing the equivalent of 108 pushups. One Indian couple, used to celebrating the real Solstice every year, seemed a bit confused to see 100 mostly white, mostly skinny girls twisting their bodies into weird shapes, while trying to pronounce “Adho Mukha Svanasana,” which is Hindu for “I could use a Michelob Ultra Light about now.” “I really don’t get the yoga trend,” Sudah Bhojani admitted. At 7:30, the sweat-drenched yogis finished their salutations and wished each other peace and happiness, though perhaps not freedom from jealousy. As they headed to their cars, one woman piled her mat into the back of Beemer, which had a Yogic symbol pasted on the window. “It’s totally easy to be zen when you’re driving a Beemer,” one Yogi whispered loudly to her friend. – Rebecca Meiser