Abhyasa - Practice

                             

Last summer on my travels, the best location I visited was Lake Bled in the Julien Alps of Slovenia. What a wild place! Slovenia hadn't even been on my radar, but then I stumbled upon an opportunity to visit what appeared to be the most beautiful place on earth and I was all, yes, sign me up! And, I kid you not, it was absolutely as intense and beautiful and surreal a place as you can imagine.

BUT (of course there was a but because this is The Budding Optimist) there were independent artists set up in a small lot near the lake. I was thrilled at the opportunity to buy a Christmas ornament to commemorate my adventure. That's when the OCD kicked in and -- I kid you not -- I spent MOST of my trip to Lake Bled maniacally changing my mind on which Christmas ornament I should get. I think the lady selling them finally got to the point where she thought I was truly insane.

I eventually bought 3 and thought my monkey-mind would let up, but it was not meant to be.

I moved onto an obsession with taking a great photo of Lake Bled. Cara's husband makes fun of her pictures because thy're all staged and everyone is posed. She finally started making her friends and family freeze mid-laugh and mid-hair-toss so she could snap a picture and send it to Kyle. He thinks her candid shots have dramatically improved, not realizing that everyone is still posing. 

That's what my Lake Bled photos became... me trying to take the perfect, unplanned-looking shot of an ACTUAL PERFECT PLACE.

In the end, my time in the Most Beautiful Place on Earth was mostly spent inside my own head. I was furious when I realized this on my way back to whatever town I had caught the bus from. I even tried to frantically figure out if I could take a 12-hour trip back to LB from the capitol at the end of my trip so I could really enjoy it this time.

Eventually, I decided against this. I chose to let this be one of Life's Painful Little Lessons (as I call them for my students)... Lake Bled truly was the most magnificent place I'd ever seen, and I would let it stand in my memory as a reminder that it's important to really BE in the moments we are in, to fully embody and enjoy them while they last, for however long they last.

My trip to Bled taught me both to be fully present in my wonderful moments AND to hold those moments with a light hand, to allow them to tread gently upon the earth. And this is a deeply spiritual practice.

The opportunities to practice it are often painful.

Unexpectedly, this month we received crushing news: the studio where I practice and teach had finally been priced out of the community.

It happened right after I'd decided to shelve my trip to Italy and take a pilgrimage to Bali instead. It happened right when I'd decided to pursue deeper pranayama and meditation training.

"You have to go to Bali," said one fellow teacher. "Now more than ever!"

"What? Why? How could I? I don't have a place to apply anything I learn anymore!"

"It doesn't matter. There is a bigger world outside of this one studio."

And I know that's true and that she's right. BUT this one studio gave me a lot... it gave me 3 chances: one, to learn yoga and heal; two, to experience teacher training and gain exposure to the eight limbs; and three, to offer guidance and direction to others in the community as an instructor.

I have been triple-blessed by this community. And while I am devastated at the loss -- again! -- of a place that has given me so much, I know that I was also able to hold the experience lightly, to enjoy each moment fully, to be present in every situation. Lake Bled taught me a lesson, and Bluebird allowed me to practice that as a discipline.

For that, I am eternally grateful.