October 15-October 22, 2012 Yogic Bliss and Peace…

     An important constant in my life the last 5-7 years has been yoga.  My friend on the island introduced me to it when I was still a stay at home mom.  Immediately, I fell in love with its graceful poses, deliberately quiet motion, and its ability to distress and detoxify my life, no matter how much or how little I practice.  My friend and I would stick around at the pool after the water aerobics class she taught was completed and practice the plow, core exercises, and general stretching along with everyone’s favorite pose, shavasana or relaxation pose.  Then, we moved into doing Rodney Yee yoga videos in her home with other friends, and this ramped it up quite a bit as Rodney is a yoga master who can get into poses I will never achieve, but I do like to try now and again.  So, up to this point in my early years of yoga practice, I had never gone to a class or practiced with a certified instructor of yoga, but I was already hooked.  Next, my friend’s sister, who is a certified yoga teacher, visited the island and offered a yoga retreat. Well, of course, I was all in for this! I was so excited to attend an actual 3-D class, not the 2-D ones I had been following on my DVD player, although to this day, those are still my main mode of yoga practice.  I don’t want to discount what those videos are worth, especially when there are no classes available here and for individual and private at home practice, there are some exceptional DVD’s out there, but it is an entirely different and unique experience to practice with an instructor and a class full of people during a retreat. This particular retreat, offered by my friend’s sister back in 2007, came at a very stressful time in my life, when I was in the middle of my divorce and had recently moved out of my home and left my children to remain there with their father for a time while I settled into a dorm room by myself.  Party because of the challenges I was going through at that time, attending a yoga retreat was one of the best experiences I have had on the atoll. It was the perfect way to begin anew.  The quiet of my new home combined with the quiet and reflective nature of yoga classes at the start and end of every day gave me a chance to see everything in a new perspective and to cherish that time as a chance to pull myself together, to find myself again, and to start the healing process. That’s where the desire to continue my journey with yoga really became ingrained in my heart for good, and my love for the practice deepened.  

     After that first retreat, my now husband and I traveled to Bali the following spring for a yoga retreat…by far, still my favorite vacation to date.  And this past October, which is what started this blog entry, my friend’s sister returned and held a second retreat, which I again had the privilege to attend. I don’t practice as regularly as I would like to because life speeds past me way too fast, but the practice of yoga is always there for me.  I do not have to depend or wait on anyone else to get started. I don’t have to have a lot of equipment or even a large amount of time to practice. I can practice just about anywhere, on the beach, at home, in a small space just big enough for me.  And when I’ve completed my practice, no matter how short or long, I feel peaceful because it quiets the constant spinning of my mind. It gives me a chance to refocus, rest my brain, and find center again. It’s very similar to prayer for me, but with the added element or stretching and relaxing the body as well. When body and mind healing are combined at the same time, it provides a deeper sense of calm.  So, this past week, yogic peace and bliss has been my companion, and I am thankful for it and what it offers to my life.