Sleep Yoga Errand Finished

Interacting With: @Persephone Barret

Though Jack hadn't the slightest clue what 'sleep yoga' was, he had been interested in a lot of his House Head's errands as of late and this one had been no exception. It didn't sound difficult; simply stress-relieving and relaxing. Of course, its name could have been deceiving, but the boy figured he wouldn't know unless he at least tried it once.

Thinking of stress-relieving, Jack could think of someone else he thought who might have benefited from such an experience. Thus, wearing his black long-sleeved breathable top and pants that he had used to practice fire-dancing with Ruka, he put his robes over them and went down to eat dinner at the Slytherin table. He went down the aisle until he spotted a familiar head of blonde hair so he could keep an eye on her and make sure she didn't leave the table before he did.

Once the Welsh boy was finished with his meal, he quickly got up slipped her a note as he passed. It read:

Hey, Bringer of Destruction,

If you've been needing an outlet for your pent-up emotions - or at least something to distract your over-thinking mind - try dressing in something comfortable to move in and meet me in the Rehearsal Room after dinner for Professor Jensen's and Professor Browne's Sleep Yoga session. I'll keep a spot next to me open for you.

- Jack Burnett

Hoping that would be enough to at least peak his housemate's interest enough to show up, the redhead hurried on to the room, hoping to get a good spot and save one for his fellow Slytherin as he'd said he would.

He was both surprised and amused to see his House Head in such casual, muggle clothing, but only smiled without a word as he went to sit on one of the soft mats laid out for students. Idly, Jack wondered if sleep yoga was meant to put them to sleep, but he didn't bother asking, supposing he would find out in a few minutes.

When they were first instructed to breathe in deeply, Jack did so, fairly familiar with the exercise as his father had suggested he do whenever he feared his emotions might overtake him and cause him to do something stupid. Inhaling deeply for five seconds before exhaling for six was what he'd been told was the typical way to breathe for meditation. Not that he himself practiced such a thing, but he supposed the knowledge was something to keep in mind for any deep-breathing exercise.

Once they had practiced the cycle five times over, Jack opened his eyes again. Closing his eyes was the hardest part for him because he felt vaguely paranoid and self-conscious about being watched and what else might have been going on around him while he couldn't see. However, now that that part was finished, he quickly glanced over to the mat he had saved for Persephone to see if she had decided to show up after all.

Whether she had or not, Jack barely had time to think on it before their professor was telling them the first position they would be moving into. Its name sounded just as interesting as other names for yoga positions Jack had heard in the past. It involved an animal taking an action like a dog facing downward. Apparently this time they were going to mimic a sleeping swan.

Curious, the redhead picked up a pillow next to him that he only just noticed, resisting the urge to start a pillow fight of sorts with it, and placed it in front of him as they had been instructed to do. He bent his left knee, folding his left leg under him before realizing that was slightly different from what they were supposed to do; it was just difficult to tell by what he could see of their instructor alone.

The first year corrected his pose, turning his leg so that the bottom of his left foot rested against the inner portion of his right thigh. That was simple enough to fix, but the next part he had a little trouble understanding by voiced instruction alone and had to crane his neck to try to see what the professor was doing again.

Pushing up off the ground enough to extend his right leg out from under him, he tried to make sure he wasn't in anyone's way before attempting to center his balance and...'hold his hips forward slightly', though in all honesty, he wasn't exactly sure what that was supposed to mean. He thought it seemed like he was doing it right.

Deciding that would have to be good enough, he pressed his head against the pillow while stretching his arms forward. He wondered why they were supposed to bend their elbows, even a little, while stretching their arms before deciding it was to make sure they didn't lock their joints and block the blood flow into their arms.

More breathing followed; the main thing Jack was fairly confident with by that point. Though their professor told them to try to hold the pose for anywhere between eight and ten breaths, he made an effort to go all the way with ten before finally sitting back up, moving slowly so that his spine could gradually curve and straighten as he imagined it 'unrolling'. After that, it seemed, the only thing left to do was the same steps on the opposite side, alternating the position of each leg.

What swan slept like this? Jack wasn't sure, but he supposed it didn't really matter. The position was relaxing enough, but he wondered what made it different as a sleep yoga position in comparison to regular yoga positions. Perhaps those were...less relaxing. Or maybe they weren't meant to do just after eating, as these poses might have been. Unable to stifle a yawn, the boy concealed the action as best he could while facing down, his arms once again stretched ahead of him as he counted for another ten breaths.

Interacting (only to say goodbye and to thank you both so much) With: @Hjørdis Jensen @Caradoc Browne

Hexcode= #3c78d8

The distressed pre-teen pulled at the edges of his robe to avoid tripping while he picked up his already hurried pace. Sylvain had missed dinner due to his impromptu lesson with Ruka, but he wasn't going to miss his chance to explore thoughtful meditation. What was it called again? Oh, Sleep Yoga. Rarely the type to set his worries aside for fear of misplacing and forgetting them, Sylvain had decided to try the most peaceful errand he'd ever been invited to. An evening of contemplation, relaxation, and meditation sounded like the perfect activity for a day like today. It had sounded great when it was announced, now he relished the opportunity and was worried he'd be late. Luckily he wasn't.

Arriving in time to pick one of the few mats unused, Sylvain silently and calmly gathered his possessions and set them off to the side, while removing his robe to better match some of the students who had chosen to participate. Among them he spotted several familiar faces, but the focused mage was dead-set on performing at least one errand on his own. It wasn't that he disliked the company of the others, but that he missed the solitude of his own thoughts, and the last couple weeks had been really draining for him. The mat he chose was soft, and gave much needed padding to make the floor exceedingly more comfortable. His clothes were as comfy as they could be, and in rare form, Sylvain untucked his uniform shirt, and loosened his tie so that it dangled around his neck. He had slipped off his preferred pair of loafers, but his holey socks gave away that he'd been without parental guidance for some time now. Standing in place on the mat, Sylvain stretched his arms and legs behind his back pulling at his ankles to lift his knees, and at his elbows to stretch his shoulders. The last bit of torque giving his tendons a warm up before the big cool down started.

"Good evening. Take a seat on any free mat and make yourself comfortable,"

Ah, it was starting. Sylvain sat down on his mat awaiting Miss Jensen's instructions. He was anxious to get to relaxing. On second thought, that was probably the reason why the scholar needed this exercise to begin with. First, Sylvain closed his eyes to focus on breathing. A long pull of air was piped into his lungs, and with increasing pressure on his chest, he slowly let the wind push itself out of him as if the burden of his mind was lightened by the simple act of breathing. Watching Nora, Sylvain followed her every move, trying his best to emulate her posture and stance. Pulling his knee to his chest released a lot of pressure in his back, and bracing his thigh with the opposite foot gave his posture balance. As he centered himself, maintaining his core, he bent forward placing his head on the pillow Caradoc had so thoughtfully plopped down for each of the students. Folding his arms into the correct position, Sylvain felt the power of yoga. Not only was it peaceful exercise, it was restful reflection as well. A sort of physical-mental harmony achieved by thoughtful movement. He repeated these maneuvers on the opposite side, to maintain respect with balance and the process.

Slowly and steadily rolling his spine into place, Sylvain found that his mind no longer wandered. It was focused on himself for once, and he was thankful that its base desire was the next pose. Despite all of the strange things people had brought with them, the reserved lad managed to shut it all out quietly. His own peace had extended around him. Sylvain looked serene, and graceful. Grounding himself, and maintaining positive posture, the student spread his legs apart to the specified distance. Again, his body felt the strength this stance brought his mind. Achieving his goal of folding his chest with palms outstretched, Sylvain nearly touched the ground with the flats of his hands. Instead, the boy touched it with his finger tips. With a little more practice Syl was certain he would reach the floor in no time. Gently swaying from side to side, Sylvain yet again found power in the posturing of Sleep Yoga. A relaxing and soft swinging motion helped rock out his anxieties completely. For once he felt emboldened by his focus rather than frustrated with it. Releasing another breath, the tension released sent a shiver down his spine. His jaw unclenched, his shoulders rotated forward, and his forehead relented its constant furrowing. The wizard had managed to be relaxed.

Reluctant to partner up, Sylvain did his best to complete the pose unaided. He had come this far with his own mind and body, he was going to continue the journey that way. Managing to roll his legs up, a shift was felt in his lower back, the sort of clicking and rumbling associated with spinal decompression. A wave of comfort rolled over his back as the stress in his rear end released itself, the muscles that lifted his legs were tight but knowing that meant he could work on it. Feet planted on the floor, the novice yogi then lifted with his stomach using the pressure on his heels to maintain the pose. Arms braced out to the sides, the boy found patience as he slowly allowed the tension of his abs to be released by his now rhythmic breathing. Inwards, tension, outwards, release. He learned to let go of his stress. Lying down, Sylvain let off another series of pops and crackles. He was much to young to have all of this stress.

Folding forward from his flatness, Sylvain then stretched out towards his upright toes. From his shoulders, flowing down his back, through his legs and to his tiniest toes, Sylvain felt a constant strain, a sort of pull back from the push he gave himself. Flexing, and extending his toes, he felt the strain as though he had been running and finally decided to come to a stop. The strain diminished. Glancing at the other students from his backside, some of whom had managed to drift to sleep, Sylvain determined his best course of action to be retreating back to Ravenclaw Dorms for the night. Calmly, he stood from his pose and retrieved his belongings.

"Thank you Professors." He said with a courteous bow, gesturing thankfully with hands in a sort of prayer. "I found what I was looking for thanks to you." With that, the boy calmly strolled back to the tower, and experienced the most peaceful rest he'd ever had. He dreamt of a castle in the sky, where he battled dragons and saved his friends all from atop his flying broom.

1116/1000 Words I'm not including Nora's quote above in my own word count.

Reducio

Word Count: 1366/1000

Outfit: [x]

Sleep yoga didn’t exactly seem interesting to Thea. Yoga in general never seemed interesting. I mean, it was just stretching, right? Her sister did that for her dance classes and whatnot. But alas, it seemed like attending it could earn her house some points. She wasn’t really competitive, but she took pride in being a Hufflepuff and decided she might as well help out. It couldn’t be that hard, could it?

Turns out two equally as inexperienced girls had a similar idea. Thea asked them and soon they all coordinated they’d go together. It made the witch feel a little bit safer. I mean, they were all kinda newbies at this, right? Worst case scenario, they’ll be able to laugh about it later. Best case, they were amazing and wow the whole class.

Hell, they even had matching onesies.

When the day finally came, Thea suited up in the bee kigurumi she put on over her usual shorts and tank top, and finally realised a heavy onesie might not be the best choice for exercise. She look down at her and promptly decided she could not be bothered. The girl than proceeded to walk with the two other girls, Annie and Mildred, towards the class. It was surprisingly fun, certainly a lighter house bonding experience than the recent events at the common room. One that hopefully didn’t involve falling through the floor for any of them.

When the three onesie clad girls made it to the room, the Head of Slytherin instructed them to choose a mat and just focus on their breathing for now. Not really knowing many people there, she followed as Annie, dressed in a fluffy duck onesie gestured. She was relieved to see her and the other girls weren’t the only badgers there; even their head of house made an appearance, which made Thea chuckle a bit.

The witch calmed down and closed her eyes, breathing deeply, trying to relax, focusing on her breath. They had repeated the exercise for a minute or so, and right as Thea was getting bored, Nora (as Thea and some other students she knew were used to calling her) was speaking again. She slowly opened her eyes and proceeded to watch as the woman in front of her do steps she was now supposed to repeat.

Sighing mentally, she grabbed a nearby pillow and tried to recount the steps in her head. Before she even got to get herself adjusted, she heard an… alarming crack coming from Annie and looked at her with mild terror before quickly being reassured by the girl’s laughter. She giggled herself and got to attempting the “sleeping swan” position herself. It was… surprisingly easy after Thea realized she had more bones inside of her tiny 12 year old body than she could’ve thought to watch out for. Before switching to her other leg, the girl took a look around the room. Everyone was focused, even her onesie wearing companions.

So far, sleep yoga wasn’t as bad as she expected. The professor was going around the room, correcting positions and answering questions before going back to her mat and starting to explain the next pose. Thea paid attention, trying to roll back up instead of just standing. It was harder than she expected but she managed to stand up properly, not before losing her balance a bit before regaining it. The next one seemed fairly easy – her class had done something similar for some PE tests at muggle school, with different degrees of how your hands touched the floor. It was a weird exercise but apparently it paid off as she was able to quickly bend over and put her palms on the mat.

She was able to hold it for a couple of seconds at a time before her knees refused to cooperate anymore. She then just stood there awkwardly, hoping to not have to explain why to the Slytherin professor. Fortunately enough for Thea, “the lizard pose” was next and she got back to paying attention to the professor as the woman explained it both verbally and physically. And as the Hufflepuff looked on she realized that this was going to… cause problems, to say the least. She could not figure out how to stretch herself. The Slytherin’s head knee was… and then her arms- and Thea did not understand for the life of her how a human could do any of that without spraining, breaking, or at least fracturing something. Fortunately it seemed she wasn’t the only one who was having this problem.

Equally fortunately, there was an alternative that seemed to help at least somewhat. The woman instructed the students to grab some bricks and use them to help with the arm situation. It didn’t fix the fact Thea felt like she was going to pop off her whole right leg if she as much as attempted the pose but hey, it didn’t hurt to try, did it? That was the whole point of this after all.

She got up and brought over 4 bricks, two for herself, and two if any of the other girls she was with needed them as well. It was hilarious to see both a chicken and a yellow unicorn struggle with stretching, but it didn’t look comfortable, especially because of the heavy onesies. After struggling with the position for a couple of seconds, she decided she couldn’t hold it for much longer. Not wanting the professor that was walking around the class to catch her slacking off, she’d attempt it a couple more times but always give up after a couple of seconds.

The next pose was easy: “up against a wall”. Nothing she didn’t see her sister do as a warm up before. They were a nice change of pace from whatever Thea’s lizard pose attempt was. By the time they got to the seated forward fold, Thea, and it seems a lot of other students, were getting sleepy, if not passing out on their mats by that point. After getting done with the final pose, Thea sat up in the bee onesie she was wearing and yawned. It was nice.

wc: 1029

Outfit: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... e90c45.png

To Callie yoga was an activity reserved for the types of rich women who seemed to exclusively eat Kale that she saw on TV. However after hearing that some of the professors were holding a session on something called sleep yoga Callie found herself immediately intrigued. Lately Callie had been sleeping rather poorly thanks to her seemingly endless nerves surrounding her schoolwork. In her mind the countless hours she'd spent pouring over textbooks in the library simply weren't enough, resulting in a few late nights quietly cramming in her dorm room. To put it simply the young girl couldn't seem to bring herself to relax and if yoga was good enough to make uptight rich women who ate kale relax perhaps it was good enough for Callie.

Upon entering the room Callie bounded over to the nearest mat wearing her favourite pyjamas. Of course these pyjamas entailed a pair of trousers covered entirely in rubber ducks wearing a nightcap with a t-shirt to match. To some they may have looked ridiculous but to Callie they were both the cutest and comfiest things known to man. However Callie's hair continued to annoy her as it was growing far too long for her liking. By now her hair was beginning to trickle down her back which for someone who preferred to keep it shoulder length was utterly infuriating. After a few moments of standing on the matt Callie blew a few strands of hair out her face before scraping it back entirely into a haphazard bun. With her hair safely secured Callie gave Nora a quick wave accompanied by a grin before settling in to follow the instructions.

The first set of instructions Callie couldn't help but find a little bit ridiculous. She was twelve! Of course standing there breathing in and out felt more than a little ridiculous. For a moment Callie considered bypassing the step entirely but after seeing so many of her peers taking part she opted to play ball - but not without a few quiet giggles to herself. It wasn't long before Callie lost herself in the ridiculous endeavour and it wasn't until Nora started speaking again that the young girl was brought swiftly back into reality. Callie did her best to follow each instruction carefully but sadly she was cursed by clumsiness. Whilst Callie successfully managed to bend her left knee and bring the sole of her left foot to her right inner thigh, she felt short when asked to lift off the floor a little. Instead of lifting off the floor a little Callie managed to push up too quickly and stumbled over onto her side, prompting a small fit of giggles as she pulled herself upright. Callie decided to try and attempt things again with a degree of caution, Thankfully this time caution prevailed and Callie managed to successfully hold the pose which was oddly comfortable. Perhaps it was the addition of the pillow or the constant breathing in and out but this sleep yoga thing was..oddly peaceful. However Callie did not yet find herself at all sleepy and was instead too focused on not falling over to let herself relax fully. So after repeating the pose on both sides Callie rolled back onto her feet and suppressed a few giggles about how ridiculous she must've looked.

The next position Callie decided to try and do things a little more carefully in order to avoid falling over her own feet. So she parted her feet a few inches as instructed and folded her torso over before reaching towards the ground. Callie surprised even herself when she managed to stretch enough to lay her palms flat on the floor. Even she didn't realise that she was that stretchy! Callie was so surprised by her own flexibility that she swayed a little too enthusiastically, prompting Nora to correct the young girl. Callie was still incredibly surprised by how relaxing this entire endeavour was. Perhaps those rich women who only ate kale were right after all? Perhaps yoga wasn't all that bad? Callie's pondering was brought to a quick halt when they suddenly started to move onto the next pose which Callie carefully followed with determined precision, although whilst doing so she forgot to breathe. Switching over to the other side was much easier in comparison as Callie was slowly getting used to sleep yoga and slowly starting to grow sleepier..

The next part was something Callie found a little strange although this was probably because it involved a partner. The young girl was incredibly scared of accidentally kicking her partner in the face that she performed the next few steps with incredible caution, forgetting to relax in the process. Thankfully Callie allowed herself a few moments of relaxation as her partner underwent the same process and the pair successfully managed without either getting kicked in the face. The next pose for Callie looked completely and utterly ridiculous and it took all her strength and willpower now to burst out laughing when she finally attempted the position herself. Thankfully it wasn't long before Callie was once again laying on the ground and started to find herself tired at a reasonable hour for the first time in a few weeks. Sadly such relaxation was interrupted by Callie's clumsiness when she managed to knee herself in the forehead whilst undertaking the next pose: the seated forward fold. The entire endeavour was proving to be rather tiring although that was the entire point of the exercise to begin with. Callie hadn't enjoyed a regular, functioning sleep schedule for a number of weeks by now and sleep yoga had helped rectify this to some degree. For the first time in what felt like forever Callie was actually sleepy at a reasonable hour for once and wasn't thinking about how much she needed to study. For now all she was thinking about was how comfy that pillow on the mat looked. It was so tempting, it looked so comfy. Surely it wouldn't hurt to lay down on it for a little while...right? So Callie slowly slid down onto the pillow and similarly to Elias didn't take long in drifting off to sleep in spite of the students still doing yoga around her.

Interacting with @Atlas Reid

Quick reminder: If you haven't posted in this information thread once you have met your word count, please do so asap to gain rewards in time for the month.

Reference on what Mildred is wearing! : Ref!

Mildred sat at the Hufflepuff table in the great hall, normally she would be buzzing with excitement for her favorite time of the day; dinner-- however currently, she was spaced out beyond belief. She aimlessly stirred whatever mixture she had on her plate, while her mind ran 384 miles per minute, doing what exactly? Who knows, the young Hufflepuff girl loved to space out daydreaming about whatever her mind was fixated at the very moment.

Whether it was about flying alpacas, her living another life- or practically anything her mind wanted to come up with. She'd space out and live out whatever fantasy she wanted to create, perhaps, the place she was at the moment wasn't the greatest place to zone out as normally the dining hall was one of the noisiest places in the school. However, to the young Hufflepuff girl the noisy dining hall didn't bother her at all-- in fact, it had all seemed muffled and as if the volume was dimmed down to her, although there was something special in the air tonight-- her fellow housemates seemed restless- as almost if there was another secret ball happening, dear merlin she hoped not.

She shook her head a few times in an attempt to snap out of it and "reassume" back into the world of the living, she might have looked a tad bit insane doing this, although it was more likely that her fellow housemates were more invested into their food and conversations than her. After getting a few her senses back, she heard muffled conversations about, "sleep Yoga" and something involving her head of the house and the Slytherin head of the house, it was safe to say that she wasn't that interested.

Although she wouldn't lie and say her interest wasn't somewhat piqued, lately, sleeping was somewhat difficult. With what had happened at the ball, and the fire at the common room- sleep wasn't coming easy. It was easier with Willow and Chicken there at night, however, sometimes that just wasn't enough. So when Thea-- a fellow Hufflepuff, had approached her and Annie about the whole Yoga idea, Mildred was somewhat alright with going- until Annie had laughed about it. In the world of Mildred, there was a hierarchy when it came to friendship. At the very top were, Stuffed animal friendships- they came first, this included friendships with stuffed animals and their owners. This bracket included Jake and Freddie and of course, Willow and Gerald and her other stuffed friends. The second was house friendships, basically it related to any friendships involving friendships with her housemates, and of course, bonding time was something you didn't laugh at. Thus, began the begging- which Mildred was never really the best but she would like to believe that she did have a great pair of puppy eyes she used for only important issues like this.

At the end of the day, it had ended up with the three of them in some pretty cool ridiculous onesies, Thea was wearing a bright bee striped onesie, and Annie who didn't seem quite happy and more embarrassed about her onesie was wearing a cute duck onesie, serves her right, next time she wouldn't go against bonding time. She was left with a unicorn onesie, which Mildred quite liked-- the only thing she didn't like about this was how insanely hot it was wearing this, would she pass out from the heat? the mere mental image of a bee and a duck carrying a unicorn to the hospital ward was near enough to send Mildred into a fit of hysteria.

And that was how a bee, duck, and a unicorn ended up doing yoga- actually, this whole thing sounded like something straight out of one of Mildred's daydreams. Mildred entered looking around the room, mostly taking note of some new faces she never recognized other than passing them in the hallways or in classes, she hasn't exactly been the most active when it came to errands lately. She looked around the room, looking for some free mats before noticing Annie waving her and Thea and over. She quickly headed over and sat down, ready to start.

Luckily, they had started with something easy-- breathing exercises, she could do this. She closed her eyes and breathed in... and out... and repeat, she even envisioned a green long field of grass in front of her, with a vast wide blue sky. There were no fires and no giant mosps.

She was safe.

She closed her eyes once again and breathed in and out before she knew it-- they were about to switch to another task. Something called, "sleeping swan" whatever that was. She tried her best to focus on the task at hand and the instructions, although in the end, she did have to look at what Annie and Thea were doing as she was terribly confused at first.

She even heard a loud pop, and assuming from the context from Annie- it was from her. "Hmm... Annie, I might have to get you a cane for your birthday" Mildred tried her best to contain her laughter, as it seemed like it was deadly silent in the room- she was doing fine getting into said position for this... although she lost it at the part where she was supposed to stay centered, was it supposed to be this... uncomfortable? eventually, she had gotten better at it and the slight burn of being in such a different position than normally faded away- in.. and out, she calmed down and focused on the rising of her chest as she laid there. lastly, she switched to her other foot and repeated the process.

As Mildred was getting back up, she heard yet another loud pop and was set on getting Annie a cane, it seemed like she really needed one. Next, they were going to do some stretching which... in her case, it could go terribly wrong or she could actually do it well. Next on list was something called, " standing forward fold" which sounded simple and straight forward, which she liked. She listened and tried her best to follow the steps, she stood with her legs apart and had to quickly adjust them, and then bent down- although it felt like she was going to fall, perhaps she was way too far out. After once again, looking at Thea and Annie do it- she adjusted herself and tried again. She wondered if Thea or Annie had done this before, especially Thea- she seemed really good at this.

She breathed in... and out, and soon released some pent up tension she never knew she had, her bones soon felt like jello- was this even normal? she swayed her arms too and fro, enjoying the empty feeling she was experiencing. Next, they would do the "Lizard Pose" which sounded, interesting. She started out following and listening, however... at one point, where she saw that Nora was almost... bending her leg? it looked painful and Mildred stopped and stared for a few moments, to be honest, Mildred wasn't even sure where her body parts were- She should call for help? thankfully, there was a solution to this which were bricks. She nearly cried out when she saw Thea carrying bricks back, she grabbed two of them and said a small thank you before continuing. With the bricks, it seemed easier and less... bone-breaking, although it didn't ease the unfamiliar burn she felt. She attempted the position for a few more minutes before giving out.

Sleep yoga was definitely not what Mildred would have expected, she looked around the room and had to do a double-take when she saw her stuffed animal friend, Jake was flat out asleep on the floor in some sort of pose- it simply seemed that this wasn't something for her. Lastly, the moved onto a new pose which was called, "up against a wall" and it looked more relaxing and simple which was exactly what she had needed, she smiled thinking back onto it- it was quite fun in the end.

WC:1364

Thank you for the errand!