California Fire Yoga
This has been the week of the great Southern California fires. While I do not live directly in a fire zone, I am still affected here in West Los Angeles.
On Monday, it seemed like “just another” Malibu fire. You can see the smoke from this fire in the photo I have included with this story. It is pretty thick but mostly blowing out to sea.
Tuesday things got worse, but it wasn’t until Wednesday that all the smoke from San Diego traveled up to LA. The sky was a dingy white and filled with smoke. It was over 90 degrees in West Los Angeles. They were recommending that people don’t open their windows and just run a/c to filter out the smoke. I had no air conditioning (don’t usually need it) and I work from home. It occurred to me later that maybe I should have sought refuge in a movie theater or something, but my brain was too addled.
I couldn’t work so I read a bit and napped. My lungs were burning slightly and my throat was a bit sore.
In the early evening I went to yoga class. It was 80 degrees in the room but refreshing compared to the blistering smoky heat I had been in all day. The teacher slowed things down for us - everyone was suffering from the smoke. I noticed immediately that the smoke reduced my breathing capacity and stamina. I honestly wonder how smokers live their lives when they put so much poison in their lungs.
Now it’s Friday and the winds have shifted - there’s a sea breeze now. It’s cooler and much welcomed, except some of that smoke is blowing back onto LA. From my window, however, I can see the first real blue sky I’ve seen since Tuesday, peeking out from the smoke clouds.