A Clown's Adoration

9

"Mellohi" - C418

     you heard a groan and a few disappointed sighs. why would they be upset over breathing exercises? "what, do you guys not like breathing?" the question accidentally came out rather harsh sounding, but you were able to get a giggle from some of the students. right, this generation is weirdly self deprecating.

     before you could continue, a hand raises suddenly. seeing that it's iida raising his hand, you call on him. "yes, iida?" he keeps his hand raised while asking his question.

     "why are we doing yoga? i would like to know how it would benefit us." none of the others say anything, but you can tell they agreed. you hum, remembering when you didn't care about yoga as well. "i can answer that. you guys are going to go through immense amounts of trauma as a hero, more than you already have. plain and simple. most heroes do not seek therapy, causing their trauma to seep into their character."

    this answer catches your class off guard. "i do not know a single hero who goes to therapy on a regular basis. not enough people take the action to heal their trauma, not to mention the fact that society says men should be strong enough to not get therapy, or the stigma around going if you aren't mentally ill."

     "that is why i am teaching you yoga. yoga can be your own, albeit much less effective, therapy. it helps your physical and mental health, it has helped me calm down countless times." you watch iida's facial expressions as he takes in the answer, dropping his hand and nodding. "thank you, (L/N)!"

     you nod, keeping your posture straight and closing your eyes. "now, i want you guys to sit up straight if you can, and close your eyes." you didn't care if some of them didn't listen, if they didn't want to participate then that isn't your problem.

    after a second of letting them situate themselves, you continue speaking. "now, take a deep breath in," you breathe with them, "hold.." you hold for a few seconds, "and breathe out." you continue this with them a few more times before you open your eyes again. "alright, you can slouch again." to your amusement, a few of the kids do actually slouch at your words.

     you had decided the best positions you could make them do are easy ones, not wanting to stress their bodies too much, especially for the ones who don't stretch all that much. child's pose, downward dog, cobra etc. due to how easy the poses were, you didn't really have to help them, though in future classes you're going to help as they get more complex.

     during each position, you would listen to everyone converse amongst themselves. they were all good kids, despite certain attitudes towards others. you were excited to see how they grow, and what they would be like as pros.

     you check the time and end the class with the corpse pose, which is literally just laying down on your back. helps calm you and your body down. after a minute, you get up and tell them to put their mats away. you grab the cards, put them in their box, and set them next to your mat. once everyone comes back to you, you absentmindedly clasp your hands together. "great work, i know the poses weren't all that hard so i apologize but i didn't want to overwork you during the first class i have with you."

     you dismiss them back to their class, picking up your things and following them. you wait for their next class to start before leaving to the staff room, finding aizawa pretty quick. he had stayed true to his word, doing paperwork and grading homework. you walk up to his desk, colorful mat in your arms and cards in your back pocket.