We must connect with your fear, the yoga teacher advises: ‘What are you afraid of?’Personally, at this precise moment, I’m afraid I’ll be left holding this uncomfortable position forever. I’m crouched over my yoga mat in a squatting position, with my arms out in front of me, parallel to the floor. It’s an excruciating stance to hold, and we’ve been in it for several minutes. Unusual keep-fit fad: Snake yoga,, is a new twist on the popular exercise class.
瑜伽是現(xiàn)代白領(lǐng)生活中尋求的一種“平靜情緒”的方式，怎樣才能讓瑜伽平復(fù)我們的緊張情緒呢？瑜伽老師經(jīng)常問：“你害怕的是什么呢？”就個人而言，在這個時刻，我害怕的是我將要帶著這樣一個極不舒服的姿勢離開。我以一種蹲的姿態(tài)俯身坐在我的瑜伽墊上，我的手臂搭在我前面，和地板恰好平行。這是一個極其難以保持的姿態(tài)，但我們已經(jīng)保持了有幾分鐘了。而與眾不同的健康時尚--“蛇瑜伽”在流行的健身課程上是一種新的瑜伽形式。

But there’s another reason to feel a little uncomfortable: in front of us, just a few feet away, is a basket full of snakes. Yes, you read that right. Very real boa constrictors, pythons and corn snakes are laying curled up together under a blanket, waiting for their cue to join in the class. Forget Bikram or power yoga. If you want to be ahead of the crowd, snake yoga is the newest — and most unusual — class in town. Officially called Kumara Serpent Healing, it’s an offshoot of Kundalini Yoga — a branch of the form which mixes adopting physical positions with a focus on breathing, meditating and chanting.
普通的瑜伽姿勢會讓我們不舒服，除了“姿勢”的因素以外，那就是就在我們前方幾英尺遠(yuǎn)的地方，有一個裝滿了蛇的籃子。是的，你沒有看錯，就是一個裝滿了蛇的籃子。成群結(jié)隊的紅尾蚺蟒、美洲巨蟒以及玉米錦蛇都蜷縮著躺在一張毛毯下面，等待著讓它們加入到課程中來的信號，這就是當(dāng)今推崇的“蛇瑜伽”健身課程。忘了高溫瑜伽或者力量瑜伽吧，如果你想要走在人群的前面的話，蛇瑜伽是城里最新潮也是最與眾不同的課程了。蛇瑜伽的官方說法是庫馬拉蛇治療，它是昆達(dá)利尼瑜伽的一個分支，它的形式是將采用物理位置和在呼吸、沉思以及交談中的專注度結(jié)合來達(dá)到的。

It was devised by self-confessed ‘mad snake lady’ Kwali Kumara, who sits at the front of the class today dressed in flowing white robes and a spiky Medusa-inspired piece of headgear. The aim of the class is, according to Kwali, to ‘deepen our connection to the spirit and natural world,’ using her ‘friendly, healing snakes’ as our guides. Overcoming your natural aversion to the snakes will help ‘unblock your chakras’, allowing energy to flow freely throughout the body — which can apparently improve every area of your life. Well, so the story goes, anyway.
蛇瑜伽是被一個自認(rèn)為“瘋狂的蛇女”的名叫克瓦力'庫馬拉的女士發(fā)明的。她現(xiàn)在都穿著飄逸的白色長袍以及戴著一個穗狀花序排列如美杜莎的頭一般的頭飾坐在學(xué)徒的面前授課。對于克瓦力來說，這門課程的宗旨就在于用她的“友好的治療蛇”來作為我們的向?qū)?，引?dǎo)我們加深與心靈以及自然世界的聯(lián)系，從而達(dá)到身靈合一。若你克服了自己與生俱來的對于蛇的厭惡，這將有助于你“開啟你的查克拉(瑜伽中的穴位)”，這樣能量將會自由的在你的身體里穿梭，結(jié)果就是會顯著地改善你生活中的方方面面?？傊?，據(jù)說它就是這么的神奇。

The lights in the room are dimmed and the students sit in a crescent shape around Kwali. I notice she says nothing about a fear of snakes. Many in the room are terrified of them — I know because I saw them freaking out in the changing rooms. Even the tall Teutonic blond fellow who gave me an unsteady smile as I took the mat next to him is frightened — once I’d sat down, I could see he was shaking. So, why are these people here? ‘If people are scared of snakes, they are scared of their own spirituality,’ explains Kwali later. ‘Having the snakes involved connects people to what is going on inside.’
房間里的燈光變暗了，學(xué)徒們在克瓦力周圍坐成了一條蜈蚣的形狀。我注意到她對關(guān)于蛇的恐懼只字不提。我知道房間里面的很多學(xué)徒都對這些蛇很恐懼，因為我看到他們在更衣室里幾近崩潰。甚至那個當(dāng)我要拿起他旁邊的一個坐墊時對我顫抖著微笑的高大的日耳曼的金發(fā)家伙也很害怕。有一次我要坐下，就看到他正在發(fā)抖著。因此，他們?yōu)槭裁催€要在這里受折磨呢？“如果人們害怕蛇，那是因為他們害怕他們自己的靈性?！敝罂送吡ο蛭医忉尩?。“讓蛇加入可以將他們與他們的心靈走向緊密的聯(lián)系在一起。”