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Claire is flustered. She can feel her body temperature rising, a tingling sensation happening as the sweat rises on her skin. She is teaching a hot yoga class, but the ninety-five-degree room temperature has nothing to do with the heat surge she is experiencing. Jack Mendocino, the hot chef next door, is in her class shirtless. She knows it’s inappropriate to ogle and fantasize about her paying customer, but, oh my, Jack is something to look at with or without a shirt. This is the first time he has been in one of her classes since moving into the space next door six months ago.
Focus. You’re teaching a packed class right now; Claire has to remind herself. “Beautiful—you all look beautiful. Now chaturanga and we’ll meet in downward facing dog.” Claire can’t help but notice Jack’s biceps and back muscles as he moves through plank and upward facing dog. Beautiful, indeed.
“Okay, we’ll take five breaths in down dog.” Claire needs to take five breaths of her own to stop her lustful panting for the hot chef.
When Claire decided to open a yoga studio after her devastating divorce and career burnout, she thought she’d be teaching women searching for something better—improved health and flexibility, mental clarity, balance from an overfilled life. She did not expect a gorgeous and fit local celebrity chef. Seriously, why did he also have to be a chef? Claire loved everything about food and watched The Food Network for the chefs as much as the actual cooking. Now she had one in her own yoga studio, setting off hormones she didn’t even know she still possessed.
“From down dog, let’s move into our warrior sequence. Left foot forward into runner’s lunge and rise up to warrior one. Good. Hold. Take three Ujjayi breaths. Warrior two and keep breathing. Move gracefully to Virabhadrasana and chaturanga using your own breath to guide yourself. We’ll meet in down dog.”
For the next 45 minutes, Claire continues talking the class through the vinyasa flow sequence, doing her best to avoid any form of eye contact with Jack. It’s a packed class today of 25 students at different levels. She loves teaching yoga. She once thought she loved the law, but she realizes now she never felt this sense of internal fulfillment of her life’s purpose that she has felt since opening the 2nd Chance Karma Yoga Studio over two years ago.
“Okay, let’s move into our balance sequence, now.” She directs the class through a series of standing balance poses, ending with a mountain-chair-tree pose sequence. She has walked around the room checking the form of every student and has now returned directly in front of Jack as he moves into tree pose following her commands. He flashes her a dazzling smile lighting up the dimly lit room. She feels a bolt of electricity through her body. She’s not sure what expression is on her face, but she hopes it is not the pure ecstasy running through the rest of her body. She takes a deep breath—one that everyone in the room notices—and moves away from Jack. “Let’s do one final vinyasa and we’ll meet on our backs to start lowering our heart rate.” Her own heart is racing with thoughts about the hot chef.
As she guides the class through their inversions and supine twists, eventually closing out class with savasana, Claire lets her mind wander to Jack. She doesn’t know much about him personally other than he is single and seems to prefer the brief company of beautiful younger women. Her yoga studio and home are in Serenity Palms; a quiet, palm-tree lined affluent suburb of Orlando. Despite being suburbia, the town has its own local magazine, Serenity Palms Life, covering the vibrant business networking and charity events that seem to happen every weekend. Claire attends some of the events, but she’d much rather stay home and read a good romance book. Based on the photos she sees in print and on the magazine’s Instagram feed, Claire knows that Jack certainly enjoys most of the events and is frequently photographed with a beautiful woman on his arm.
“Slowly now start reawakening your hands and feet. When you’re ready, move into a fetal position, then a comfortable seated position. I want to close out class with this thought. Why are we in such a hurry to get up when we fall down? What’s wrong with resting and taking a pause? Don’t we owe it to ourselves to find stillness? These words remind me to be kind to myself. To take the time I need to understand a confusing situation, process my thoughts, and ultimately heal from the experience. Take the time you need and always know that you have a safe home here at 2nd Chance Karma. I’m honored to be your teacher today. The divine light within me honors and acknowledges the divine light within you. Namaste. Thank you all so much for joining me today.”
Claire heads out to the reception area to unlock the front door and wishes each student a fond farewell as they go back out into the world. She anxiously awaits Jack’s exit from the studio. He’s definitely taking his sweet time. Finally, she sees him holding back, waiting for the other students to leave before he approaches.
“Thank you for a wonderful class. I really enjoyed it. I haven’t been to a class since moving back to Serenity Palms.”
“Oh, you’re welcome. Where did you practice before?”
“Down in Miami. I grew up here, but I’ve lived down there for twenty years. I’m slowly putting together a ‘normal’ life again now that the restaurant is stabilizing.”
“You’ve been open, what, six months or so now?”
“Yes. I was fortunate to convince one of my former managers in Miami to come up here with me to help with the business side of the restaurant, but it still takes time to find the right staff and build relationships with suppliers.”
“I imagine. I know what it took for me to open up this studio and it’s not nearly as complex.”
Students for the next class begin trickling in as Claire and Jack talk in the lobby. They’ve only ever had these brief snippets of conversation; in the restaurant or passing in the parking lot, one coming while the other is going. The conversations are easy and even though they are simple, there is chemistry, an electrical current in the air between them every time. She feels it and she’s pretty sure he does too. There’s a glint in his eyes when he’s talking to her. She has deliberately paid attention when he is talking to someone else to see if that glint is present. It’s not, but as soon as he turns his attention back towards her, they sparkle once again. The sensation gives her butterflies.
“Well, Claire, I should let you get back to work. Thanks for class, again, and I’m really looking forward to the next time. Have a great day!” Jack nods his head and, in one swift movement, he is out the door before she can even respond.
This man stirs up something in her she can’t explain. She has always been the person with a plan; all aspects of her life are perfectly choreographed in sequence. Having feelings for any man other than her now ex-husband was never part of the plan. The thought-provoking questions she shared in class today have a deep and personal meaning. She spent more than half her life with Colin and she was fully prepared to spend the rest of it with him too. The demise of her marriage—and her career—was like a boulder falling right on top of her. She tried her best to get right back up but just couldn’t do it. She beat herself up for not bouncing back. She beat herself up for being so tired of everything all the time. She developed anxiety for the first time in her life because she had no plan for what to do next with her life. She was in unchartered waters. Now, it’s been three years since the boulder fell and her life is completely different. She has found inner peace and a new purpose in life. She found her second chance at a meaningful life. She thinks back over the past twenty-four years since she first met Colin and can’t believe how very different her life is now compared to her original expectations.
