I have to say that this came out of my mouth as a statement to my yoga instructors Brian Luce and Jackie DeConti after I completed my Seva program on a recent Sunday afternoon at New Elements Gallery. Yes, in a town full of yogis and beach bums I am a new recipient of my 200 RYS credentials. But I am getting ahead of myself as usual.
After many years of having doctors and nurses ask me “Do you meditate?” three years ago I started going to yoga classes on a regular basis. I had high blood pressure and my sugar levels were elevated. Yoga made me feel so good that I started meditating on a daily basis as well. This year I attended a Yoga Retreat in Panama with these instructors and a collection of other brave souls from my home yoga studio, Terra Sol. During the retreat I poked my teacher Brian in the back while skipping the white caps on a boat in Panamanian waters, salt water blowing onto my forearm and wind in my hair, and I asked “So what would Yoga Teacher Training entail exactly?” over the sound of the motor.
After talking with Lance at home and Georgie and Daphne at the office, I took the plunge. The work was rigorous and fun; it took a great deal of time and commitment as trainees. There were Fridays and Saturdays this summer where I was unavailable to my family and the business. But no balls were dropped at home or work, and I realized what a wonderful support system I had. A couple of Fourth Fridays were spent training all day and then showering and getting cleaned up to facilitate an opening that evening. Instead of being tired or grumbly I showed up to New Elements invigorated and enthused.
Being a yogi has made me more grateful for the wonderful things in my life at work and at home. If you are excited about the little things, the big things are really breathtaking. I also seem to be able to handle some of the challenges in life a little better as well as I have a better perspective and a resiliency that only meditation and taking care of my own energy can bring.
I also found time. If I have had time to do this program this summer, I have time to do some extras for work. I went to the Cameron Art Museum last week to catch an artist’s talk by one of our artists Jean Gray Mohs. I was also in the middle of planning my Seva project, which is the final hurdle in getting your teaching certification. You plan, market, and facilitate a free yoga class to benefit a local not for profit. I decided to create a yoga class around Jean Gray Mohs’ work, and I had the event at the gallery. Georgie Anastasi curated the back gallery to showcase more of Jean Gray’s work for this event, moved things around, and I came in to mop the floor. A couple of times, it had been a minute. So we as a jury took Jean Gray Mohs’ work more than a year ago, but she is a newer artist for us. In preparing for this event, I realized I understood her work much better than I ever had before. This is my job; but seeing her work with fresh eyes in a fresh way was invigorating. And the gallery floor has never been cleaner!
I have a larger community. The community that turned out for my project were friends that I have made along the way, but some had never been in New Elements Gallery; they were friends that I have made through yoga. They enjoyed the session so much that now it has been requested that I have other yoga sessions on Sunday. I can get the teaching experience that I want, and the artists and gallery will get some great exposure. Also, I can have fellowship with the community that I have built so far, and not during an opening which can sometimes be busy and a little noisy!
I am more present. When I am at the gallery, I am really THERE. When I am in my personal life, again I am really THERE. Every step I take, I am really concentrating. I am happier, more content, and less worried than I have ever been in my life. I am a better mate, mom, and coworker. I don’t think this is because of age, I credit yoga and meditation.
I am intellectually curious again. Before I began practicing yoga regularly, I believe that I was kind of sleep walking through life. I wasn’t gardening regularly; life seemed a little overwhelming. I didn’t read on a regular basis. Now I have a stack of books on my bedside table. As soon as I finish one I put it in a free book box. I read non fiction, fiction, and lately Carl Jung. I have a beautiful book about the Dalai Lama. I read poetry, books about yogic philosophy, and mudras. A really good friend put in new plants in my barren back yard, and now I make tea from the things I grow, listen to a water feature gurgling, and meditate on a platform where I can do yoga outside. I am full of curiosity about everything!!
I’m getting my certification framed; not for anyone else, just for me. My sincere wish is that everyone finds the thing that turns the volume up on life. I am grateful that I have found mine.
You can find Miriam's yoga website here.