I’ll never forget the first time I was in a yoga class and the instructor invited us to dance. It was a morning class on New Year’s Eve, packed to capacity with students wanting their final yoga fix for 2009. There was a cool vibe in the room; the yoga instructor was brimming with joy and enthusiasm, and she was armed with an amazing playlist! A great song came on, and as she was taking us through our final sun salutation, she invited the class to dance along with her. I don’t need any arm twisting to shake my booty, so I quickly got into dance mode. I looked around the room to see my fellow yoginis getting down with me (except a few shy folks who were too timid to get their groove on). I couldn’t think of a better way to close out my year than with a little dance on the yoga mat.

Yoga really is a form of dance. I think that is one of the reasons why I love it so much—because, for me, it does feel like a dance. I’m a ballerina at heart and took lessons for years, even though you would never know it today. Seriously, I think my parents should get a refund on all those ballet dance classes and pink tutus they paid for, because I am about the most ungraceful person on the planet.

I love dancing on my yoga mat, in bare feet, using my dancer arms as I flow gracefully through a series of asanas.

So, my yoga theme song for the week is “Tiny Dancer” by Elton John. It’s a classic song that brings out my inner ballerina and reminds me how much I love dancing in the sand and dancing in yoga class.

What an amazing feeling to express yourself through the dance that is yoga. Embrace your tiny dancer and bust a few moves in yoga class this week.