Body Balance this morning.

Now please bear in mind that men never come to this class. Sometimes a spindly gingery man teaches the class. Very once in a while, a pretty cute boy attends looking sheepish. But it's principally dishevelled and shambling women.

So imagine my consternation when I entered the studio today to see three man drifting about. I thought momentarily that I must be in the wrong class wrong day wrong time something. And then realised the dishevelled women were clucking around the edges so all was as it should be. Just With Men.

A slender beautiful fellow, beautifully inked, stepped forward and announced that he was taking the class for regular teacher Gillian. Fair play to him.

We could not help but notice that he was wearing exceedingly short shorts. Fair play to him.

Now I'm normally lazy as you like in this class. I scarcely try, I waggle my limbs about a bit, I yawn a lot as an excuse not to do the things that are too difficult.

But an interesting change came over me, realised only when the time came to attempt the bird. Maybe the little bird. It makes no difference.

The movement requires you to upend yourself, head towards the ground and place your knees onto your upper arms, just above the elbow, as your hands press into the floor. Theoretically, if you have any sort of strength (I do not), you can balance like this with your feet off the ground.

I have never mastered this move and can't really take it seriously enough to try.

But clearly, this morning, the testosterone in the room spurred me on.

Everyone crouched and hovered and many many balanced.

I crouched, I tipped, I hovered, I

- thud -

Fell like a bird felled by a big heavy stone onto the mat.

The teacher perfectly upsidely down poised cried out delightedly (for of course he could not see as he was upside down) "I heard that!"

I received many sympathetic looks when the poised righted themselves.

And a delightfully round faced girl next to me said she'd fallen onto her head previously so I shouldn't worry.

We must have all been trying very hard today as I was gratified to note that another woman fell onto her face before the end.

I hope The Men don't come back.