WEEK TEN - RELAXED

This past week has flown by in the beautifully lush and sunny Bahamas.

It was a rather indirect path to get there, but I am back in the room called ‘Om 8’, where my journey began in January, when I first came to the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat.  

I traveled here for my first-ever yoga retreat and the Ayurveda Conference, yearly held in January.  This year the theme is Living Healthy in the 21st Century!
That trip set in motion the year long study that I am now doing, living an Ayurvedic-Yogic lifestyle with the guidance of herbalist and Ayurveda expert, KP Khalsa and the support of Banyan Botanicals.

This week I also moved into a very pleasant, peaceful and air conditioned office space.  My comfort level has risen dramatically, even though we are daily in the 90’s and it is quite humid.
With respite from heat at night and while I work, the bright, sunny skies and magnificence of nature that surrounds me are what I focus on when I am outdoors.

I made it into the ocean twice this week.  The water here is the most beautiful I’ve ever experienced - warm, yet refreshing and the colors are breathtaking.  I would never tire of the sound of the waves coming in.  The shades of blues and greens seem unreal, they are so vibrant and the water is so clear.  There are also rejuvenating properties from the water, and we are encouraged to get in ‘ocean time’ as often as possible.

So, it has been a good week.

Yesterday, after my morning yoga class, one of the guests here chatted with me about our morning satsang.  It was the first time I ever led a chant, and I’m not a great singer - though I do love to sing:)  Anyway, her exact words to me were,  ‘you are so relaxed’.

In my lifetime, many words have been used to describe me, but “relaxed” has not ever been one of them.  Energetic, enthusiastic, motivated, passionate, professional, creative, determined and talkative are some of the nicer descriptions.  Then, on the negative list are demanding, judgmental, opinionated, perfectionist, driven, fidgety, workaholic and bossy.

From an Ayurveda perspective, my attributes would be classified as a very strong Pitta personality, with some Vata qualities sprinkled in.

I was completely taken by surprise that anyone would see me as ‘relaxed’.  

I feel much more comfortable than when I arrived, but I was also quite comfortable and enjoyed my city lifestyle back in Chicago.  Comfortable is different than relaxed. While in the city, I was not known to be a relaxed person.

For me to actually be sending out relaxed energy for others to feel - that was a nice and big change.  

I’ve never been relaxed, so it is a newer state for me.  It’s definitely a slower pace, but not slow by any means.  I’m very busy here, every day from dawn to bedtime.  But the typical negative tensions of life and relationships are far fewer here and are always subdued by the satsangs that bookend each day.  Prayers and chants immediately soften even our roughest edges.  

I am less reactive, but by no means, emotionless.  In fact I feel emotions quite deeply, in a good way.  I’m enjoying the ease of feeling loving in this environment, not in a romantic love way, but more in a gratitude and acceptance way.  

It’s also quite fun to openly sing about and express, through chants and prayers, love for God’s presence in each of us and everything.  For me, it is joyful and uplifting.

I found out some really great news this week.  There will be a Yoga Teacher Training Course (TTC) in November this year for the first time.  It is my birthday month, and I plan to register for the TTC and become a certified yoga teacher before the end of the year.

What are you doing between now and the end of the year?  

Anyone want to join me in November?  Check out the one month TTC immersion courses here at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat.

Sending you love from the Bahamas,

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