Well the travel adventure has started. I am getting ready to depart for a yoga pilgrimage to India with a group from my favorite yoga studio Breathe Together. This trip will be led by Prajna Viera and Jenn Prugh both are favorites and I am so excited. The trip is based on Bhakti Yoga which is the yoga of devotion. We will be visiting some of the most sacred ancient sites in India. I am fascinated by the history of India and also love the Bhakti tradition in yoga.
One of my favorite parts of the Bhakti yoga tradition is Kirtan and chanting. I thought it was pretty crazy the first time I was involved in chanting Sanskrit with a bunch of other yoga students. But the experience soon grew on me and now it is one of my favorite yoga practices. Chanting is a time honored way to get in touch with your 'self' and feel at peace. In my study of world wide traditions and rituals I have not come across a culture that does not celebrate with sound and often song.
It seems the idea of sound vibrations run deep in the essence of our being. Resonating with the vibrations of the universe is not just a nice idea it is also steeped in scienctific study. It fascinates me. When we chant AUM we are actually aligning our vibration as close as we can to the vibration sound of the universe. I love that.
Anyway, I am heading to the other side of the world to explore the origins of this practice and all the history that place in the world has to offer. I know it will most likely be much more than I can take in during my brief 2 weeks, but I am looking forward to the emersion. My family is a bit sad to see me go, but they have been very supportive. I planned this trip back in August before we knew we were selling the house. I felt back then it was time to start exploring the world and I knew I had to take the first steps in leading my family in that direction.
So, the adventure begins! I will let you know what transpired during my travels when I return.
Until then be well and enjoy the blossoming of Spring.
Monday, April 3, 2017
Sold! (2/3/17)
Didn't get much writing done the past month as we were getting the house ready for sale. The hard work paid off and we sold the house in 7 days. That is the benefit of living where we do. It is extremely hard to get into a home but when you go the other direction it is quite easy to sell one. It was only a matter of one weekend and about 3 weeks of paperwork. We were fortunate to be able to use the same real estate agent who worked with us in buying our home. He is a great guy and had the best of intentions for our family when getting the house ready for sale.
It is a pretty intrusive an humbling experience to have your home 'staged' for sale. The goal is to make it look like a catalogue and appeal to the generic sense of possibility. All the personality that I poured into our home over the years had to be stripped away as did the children' toys and personal collections. It was surprising how much stuff we had accumulated in such a small space. Our home is only a 2 bedroom and around 950 sq feet. Never the less we have removed a full PODs worth of our personal belongings and still seem to have more than enough to keep us happy.
It does give me pause to wonder if we really need all this stuff. Would I be sad if the POD got lost?
I imagine I would be sad, but I also imagine I would get accustomed to living without it. In the next months we will be pairing our lives down to a suitcase and backpack each to live out of for the next year. That will be interesting. I think knowing it is temporary makes it easier to do. Funny how we can trick our minds.
When I am in my best place I realize that this is all temporary. And I realize it is ok for me to pack away the baggage that tends to follow me where ever I go and just enjoy the moment. Those boxes will always be there and I can open them or not as I choose. I can decide to burn them or place them on the mantle. I get to choose and it feels great.
Are you making choices in your life? Are you dragging your baggage around with you everywhere you go? Do you have a plan to deal with those boxes? I hope so. I hope you find ways to unload the weight you carry and to find some space and freedom in your being and your life.
It is a pretty intrusive an humbling experience to have your home 'staged' for sale. The goal is to make it look like a catalogue and appeal to the generic sense of possibility. All the personality that I poured into our home over the years had to be stripped away as did the children' toys and personal collections. It was surprising how much stuff we had accumulated in such a small space. Our home is only a 2 bedroom and around 950 sq feet. Never the less we have removed a full PODs worth of our personal belongings and still seem to have more than enough to keep us happy.
It does give me pause to wonder if we really need all this stuff. Would I be sad if the POD got lost?
I imagine I would be sad, but I also imagine I would get accustomed to living without it. In the next months we will be pairing our lives down to a suitcase and backpack each to live out of for the next year. That will be interesting. I think knowing it is temporary makes it easier to do. Funny how we can trick our minds.
When I am in my best place I realize that this is all temporary. And I realize it is ok for me to pack away the baggage that tends to follow me where ever I go and just enjoy the moment. Those boxes will always be there and I can open them or not as I choose. I can decide to burn them or place them on the mantle. I get to choose and it feels great.
Are you making choices in your life? Are you dragging your baggage around with you everywhere you go? Do you have a plan to deal with those boxes? I hope so. I hope you find ways to unload the weight you carry and to find some space and freedom in your being and your life.
Taking Action (1/26/17)
The seeds are planted and it is time to take action. We are getting the home of 12 years ready for sale. In this home we crossed the threshold as newlyweds, had our first pet, and started a family. It has been a wonderful place and time in our lives and we are so thankful. This house has sheltered and held us and now this home is going to provide us with the means to make a major shift in our lives. The proceeds from the sale will support us in our year of transition and travel. We will not be coming home to this address, to this place in the world, or the this time in our lives again. It is an ending and a beginning.
We are in the process of sorting and packing our belongings. There is a lot of letting go to get to freedom and letting go isn't always easy. There have been tears and doors slammed. There have been lots of questions and frustration. There have been discussions about why and how and what if.... and slowly we made our way to acceptance. We are working on practicing ahimsa with ourselves and one another. There is pain, and we are acknowledging the pain and moving through it and with it on to the next stage of our journey.
The possibilities lay before us like an open sea and at times I feel panic rising up. I want to make some 'real plans'. I want to feel like I have some control over our destiny, but it is time to let go a bit and make room for grace. It is time to do the work necessary to become 'free' and to let life happen to us a bit.
Currently the plan is to sell the house and move into my dad's basement while we finalize the details of our round the world adventure. I cringe a bit thinking of living in my dad's basement, but a dose of that should be great motivation to move on to the next stop! I am grateful for a relationship with my dad and his wife that allows us this opportunity and look forward to being closer to them.
So it is the beginning of a new era in our lives. We are carving a new path and giving ourselves the freedom to search for our authentic selves. It is exciting and terrifying. What are you doing with your life that terrifies and excites you? I hope you find ways to give yourself the opportunity to dream and to put those dreams to action, even if it terrifies you to do so.
We are in the process of sorting and packing our belongings. There is a lot of letting go to get to freedom and letting go isn't always easy. There have been tears and doors slammed. There have been lots of questions and frustration. There have been discussions about why and how and what if.... and slowly we made our way to acceptance. We are working on practicing ahimsa with ourselves and one another. There is pain, and we are acknowledging the pain and moving through it and with it on to the next stage of our journey.
The possibilities lay before us like an open sea and at times I feel panic rising up. I want to make some 'real plans'. I want to feel like I have some control over our destiny, but it is time to let go a bit and make room for grace. It is time to do the work necessary to become 'free' and to let life happen to us a bit.
Currently the plan is to sell the house and move into my dad's basement while we finalize the details of our round the world adventure. I cringe a bit thinking of living in my dad's basement, but a dose of that should be great motivation to move on to the next stop! I am grateful for a relationship with my dad and his wife that allows us this opportunity and look forward to being closer to them.
So it is the beginning of a new era in our lives. We are carving a new path and giving ourselves the freedom to search for our authentic selves. It is exciting and terrifying. What are you doing with your life that terrifies and excites you? I hope you find ways to give yourself the opportunity to dream and to put those dreams to action, even if it terrifies you to do so.
New Beginnings (back post from 1/1/2017)
New Year's Eve I spent 2 hours in a room meditating to the sound of singing bowls and chimes. I was bathed in vibration and as the different sounds clashed and meshed together. It took some time to settle into a good space. In fact for the first 45 minutes I was pretty uncomfortable, but the next 75 minutes passed in what seemed like 10. It was a ending and beginning that truly resonated with me.
The next day I was back at the studio for the annual New Year celebration at the Breathe Together Yoga Studio in Los Gatos, Ca. Jenn Prugh is one of my favorite teachers and the owner/manager of Breathe Together. She offers a free New Years Day class. Jenn is one of those teachers who has the ability to push you right to the edge of your comfort zone and often way beyond it. It was a shock for me at first. I was angry, embarrassed, ashamed, and really raw about the experience she first provided me. It has taken years of yoga to finally enter her space and find the joy of yoga, but I have and I am so grateful to her for the journey.
The challenges of yoga on first entry are physical, but the essence of the practice lies in the mind and the spirit. Jenn has the ability to push you to the point you must deal with your mind and spirit or you will just live through the pain and continue to think that is the point. The practiced is steeped in opportunity for practicing Ahimsa or non-harming. This is one of the first rules of yoga and should be applied inward and outward. Jenn's class is an opportunity to find kindness for your suffering. It is an opportunity to be present with your pain and uncomfort and find the joy. But honestly for a a long time it just felt like torture.
During this New Year's Day torture session Jenn instructed us to choose a word for the practice. We should use this word with our breath to help us stay present and joyful not just during our two hour session but throughout the year. My word for 2017 is Freedom. Later in the class we partnered up and were offered the opportunity to join our neighbors word with our own. My neighbors word was Letting Go. Perfect.
The seeds are planted now to tend the soil and nurture the growth.
The next day I was back at the studio for the annual New Year celebration at the Breathe Together Yoga Studio in Los Gatos, Ca. Jenn Prugh is one of my favorite teachers and the owner/manager of Breathe Together. She offers a free New Years Day class. Jenn is one of those teachers who has the ability to push you right to the edge of your comfort zone and often way beyond it. It was a shock for me at first. I was angry, embarrassed, ashamed, and really raw about the experience she first provided me. It has taken years of yoga to finally enter her space and find the joy of yoga, but I have and I am so grateful to her for the journey.
The challenges of yoga on first entry are physical, but the essence of the practice lies in the mind and the spirit. Jenn has the ability to push you to the point you must deal with your mind and spirit or you will just live through the pain and continue to think that is the point. The practiced is steeped in opportunity for practicing Ahimsa or non-harming. This is one of the first rules of yoga and should be applied inward and outward. Jenn's class is an opportunity to find kindness for your suffering. It is an opportunity to be present with your pain and uncomfort and find the joy. But honestly for a a long time it just felt like torture.
During this New Year's Day torture session Jenn instructed us to choose a word for the practice. We should use this word with our breath to help us stay present and joyful not just during our two hour session but throughout the year. My word for 2017 is Freedom. Later in the class we partnered up and were offered the opportunity to join our neighbors word with our own. My neighbors word was Letting Go. Perfect.
The seeds are planted now to tend the soil and nurture the growth.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)