Bajasana: Yoga in Mexico

Singing bowls at the last Satsang

 Everything Oms

There is an Om in every ocean wave

Curl and crash on the exhale

There is an Om with the sun

Inhale over mountain, breathe through palms

There is an Om in grains of sand

As they recreate earth under feet

There is an Om in the rattlesnake

Gliding peacefully across my path

There is an Om in my breakfast

Papaya, ginger and lime melt in my mouth

Sunrise

There is an Om with night crickets

Collective chirps turn to one

There is an Om as my feet root down

Realizing I am one of many rocks on this mountain

There is an Om with pelican’s last breath

Returning itself back to the earth 

One of the many pelicans I saw perish  due to lack of fish

There is an Om in every step

Constantly renewing my relationship with gravity

There is an Om in complete silence

As the world around me speaks

There is an Om in my hard-boiled egg

Cracking its secret bit by bit

There is an Om in the airplane

Flying through clouds above

There is an Om with presence

I am here between past and future

There is an Om in the breeze

Animating every leaf

There is an Om in this space of bare attention

As I allow space for all that is

To simply be.

 

Partner yoga with April

It’s official. I am a certified yoga teacher.  Last   Tuesday, I completed 200 hours of training through the Yandara Institute in Baja, Mexico.  I am forever indebted to 3 of the best teachers on the planet: Allison, Kim and Sumitra.  As an educator, they reminded me how powerful a learning experience can be when you have a variety of worldviews and teaching styles present.  There were 9 others in my group, each of us ranging in age from 23-50.  For 17 days, I rose at 5:50 am, attended 2.5 hours of breathing, meditation and flow, followed by half an hour of papaya, oatmeal and tea.  

Mineral patterns on my 7.5 hour walking meditation

Another 3 hours breaking down the postures was followed by lunch and another 2 hours of practice teaching or philosophy.  Every other day we had Satya (truth) with our group on the beach—each of us having a turn to respond to questions posed by Allison.  Dinner was at 6:00 followed by Satsang (community meeting) involving singing, chanting, and even a little dancing sometimes until 9:00 pm.  I happily surrendered to my tent and pillow under the stars around 10:00.  I would wake up with a smile and do it all over again. Overall, it was a well-rounded program providing exposure to not simply yoga postures (asanas), but the entire lifestyle of yoga. I have never been a big “Om-er”, but after doing it roughly 190 times (I did the math), I love it…. especially when it comes from the belly. On the 11th day, each of us meditated in silence for 8 hours. I began walking up the beach at 5:45 am and didn't stop for 7.5 hours. I just mapped it and discovered that I peacefully walked almost 10 miles in the sand--present, peaceful and full of gratitude.

The stuff of yoga

To me, Hatha Yoga (asanas/postures/breathing/meditation) along with the other paths of yoga…is the practice of process.  There is no end point and no higher goal other than meeting yourself each day for the imperfectly perfect union of movement and breath, heart and mind, body and soul. I can proudly say that I will be working on Tadasana (Mountain pose), Adho Mukha Vrksasana (Handstand) and every posture in between for the rest of my life. And now that I am certified to teach, my intention is to work with others who want to practice their process.  Helping others become more aware of their breath, their process and their potential sounds like a pretty good gig to me.

Summer 2012, 16-day group

Our Beach