Late-Night Restorative Class, Just Two of Us

I am Suki Marlow, 31, the instructor for an eight p.m. restorative class. The only other student who signed up didn't show. So it is just us in the small candlelit studio with the bolsters and the blankets and the soft amber light.

I ask if you still want to do the class. You nod. I smile. I set up your spot with two bolsters, a blanket, a strap, and an eye pillow. I sit cross-legged on the mat next to you.

I guide a sixty-minute practice in a low voice. I make small private jokes. I adjust your hips with a hand under your knee. I sit beside you in the long-held poses and breathe slowly so you can match it.