Yoga?? Drew wrinkled his nose. He’d heard of it but never thought he’d actually be doing it. It seemed so girly to him. With a sigh, he went over and retrieved a mat. Placing it on the floor, he watched Professor Brookvale. Looking around, he saw most of his classmates getting into the action. Drew rather reluctantly toed off his shoes and attempted some of the moves he’d just seen demonstrated. He also found a few more in a book that the professor had available. Choosing some that look easiest, Drew practiced a bit until it was his turn.

Part of the purpose of yoga was to help center a person and achieve balance, Drew had read. To that end, he started with the Mountain pose, taking deep breaths. He then bent his legs and extended his arms, going into the Warrior mode. He had chosen that one because it sounded cool and manlier. From Warrior it was a fairly easy transition into Triangle, with his body bent to the side and his arm extended to the floor with his hand touching the mat. Bending his leg and placing both hands on the mat, Drew went into the Lunge position. His breathing was growing deeper with each position and he closed his eyes thinking through the next part in his sequence. A tree needed strong roots to grow tall. He gradually stood up, tucking one leg up similar to a flamingo and balancing while he took slow, even breaths as he executed the Tree pose. Slowly he lowered his leg and returned to the Mountain pose. He had to admit he did feel a bit more relaxed and calmer.

Drew Wilder ~ Slytherin

Niamh entered the classroom with the other students, and wondered what on earth the lesosn would entail. Once she heard the word "yoga" her eyes lit up - that was one thing she had learnt when she was living in Egypt. Her father believed that yoga was a great way to relax after work, and had taught her a few poses. She didn't want to show off, but Niamh felt that this might be a more successful lesson than the flying ones where she'd failed spectacularly.

She started with a Mountain Pose as her father had told her you should always start with an easy pose to get into the swing of things. Holding the pose for a few seconds, she then relaxed her arms and turned to the side, taking a step forwards with her right leg, into the Warrior pose. Her left leg started wobbling after a couple of seconds, but she tried her hardest to keep her breathing slow and steady as she held the pose.

Moving her feet back to a more comfortable stance, she went straight on to a Two-arm right bend to give her legs a little rest before the pose she had planned to come next. Holding the bend for a few seconds, she then straightened up, held her arms out in front of her, raised herself onto her toes and bent her knees for the chair pose on toes (knees together). She hadn't been able to do this pose on her toes for long, but wanted to see if she could actually achieve it. Much to her amazement, she was able to keep her balance for several seconds, and returned to a standing pose before her legs wobbled.

Having already done a two-arm right bend, the natural pose to do next would be a Two-arm left bend, which worked well to give her muscles a quick breather before her final pose. Moving on, she led flat on the mat, before putting the palms of her hands down onto the mat next to her ears. Lifting herself off the mat, she did an almost perfect Upward Bow pose. It might be classed as advanced, but it was one of the poses her father had taught her. She didn't realise that when she was learning, he'd used magic to keep her from falling over, but she had practised this pose quite a bit at 4A and in the dorms at Hogwarts, so she no longer needed the magical assistance.

Lowering herself back to a lying position, she stayed there for a few seconds before standing back up. Making sure her feet were comfortably apart, before finishing with the Mountain Pose. She wasn't sure her penultimate pose really went with the rest of the sequence, but it was one of her favourites, so it had to be included.

Pics of sequence

Niamh Doyle, Gryffindor