What a Bunch of Yoke - Us on Yoga

Happy Easter, Spring and the full moon from Rio Verde, AZ! We are camping along the river surrounded by willows and cottonwood trees carpeting the grounds with their snowy seeds. I can’t get over the abundance of life along the waterways in this region but no mosquitos. It’s a magical place that I highly recommend to anyone looking for the sounds of rushing water and birdsong. Matthew and I have so enjoyed our time here in Arizona. The state’s geography and culture are so varied but always beautiful. The lines of mountains that seems to go on forever, always surrounding us as we drove down 10. We had a cloudy day here recently that cast our gentle giant neighbors in shadows of the curtains the cloud made. The high was only 75!?! (lol I’ve lost my cold weather tolerance already). The dogs and I have so enjoyed our time along the river banks. We’ve seen paired up ducks, lizards, rabbits and yesterday I saw WILD HORSES getting a drink at the river on the other bank. I never seem to capture these encounters but I assure you dear readers that I’m telling the truth. I’m so blessed to have the time to slow down and enjoy the company of the amazing creatures of nature.

To move on to our subject of the week: Yoga.

Matthew and I had a disagreement recently on the definition of yoga. Turned out we were both half right. Yoga means to yoke the mind and body and in doing so, yoking the individual consciousness with the universal consciousness. I know that sounds very heavy, I still don’t completely understand it. I felt different after I reconnected to my body, almost as if I were a kid. I would mindlessly stretch my legs or arms while sitting watching TV or conversing with Matthew. It felt good to be so present and enjoying my body for a change. I rediscovered that I’m super flexible. This week I worked on splits for the first time. So exciting!!

Yoga provided me an outlet for my healing journey. It kept me grounded in the present and focused on things I could control. The world of 2020 was overwhelming in the amount of things I could not control so the power I felt on the mat was refreshing. I relied on time on my yoga mat to maintain my mental health, even more during my much needed mental health leave. I wanted to use my time wisely and work on myself. The work I had been doing in the margins could now be done full-time, whatever that meant to me in the moment.

In the winter of 2021 I found a book from the Chicago Public Library on yoga that described yoga as yoking or uniting the ever wavering mind and the Higher Self. This is from Yoga: A Practical Introduction by Dr. Svami Purna (1998). Hatha yoga ("ha" meaning sun and "tha" meaning moon) is a complete physical maintenance. It should be a balancing experience. Nature in the macro and our bodies in the micro are a great teacher of patience. My body changed as it wanted and I just maintained my practice. I dove into studying yoga (this was only 1 of 4 books on yoga I checked out from the library), because I knew it was good for me by how good it felt on the mat. I had never had this experience with physical activity before. I felt my overactive body calm under the daily practice. I became less clumsy and feel the most confident on my feet I ever have. Yoga has brought back my healthy and youthful body despite the fact I’m the oldest I’ve ever been.

The mat may look like a lonely desolate place on the hard ground. If you look closer, it is brimming with love. I was able to turn my gaze inward by forcing myself to have alone time, just me and my body on the mat. At first the direct gaze of my conscious mind on my body and all the contents of my mind terrified me. I never wanted to look too closely. It was easier to leave the boulder undisturbed, keeping the darkness contained. However, I was about 3 months into my 1st attempt at therapy as an adult with my wonderful therapist, Katy. I was already more familiar with and less fearful of the dark side of my mind. By the time my first 15 mins a day 30 day yoga challenge was complete, I was welcoming my time on my mat. The YouTube channel - Yoga with Kassandra opened my mind to the infinite possibilities that my mat represented. I soon restarted the challenge now with Matthew by my side. We loved practicing yoga inside our magical dining room that could become any room we needed, surrounded by a lot of wood and morning sunlight. We continued to practice almost daily throughout the lockdown of 2020-2021. Yoga became a sanctuary for us in an extremely complicated world outside our apartment. I could control my practice and felt my progress weekly by how comfortable I could do a pushup.

We practiced yoga almost daily throughout the lockdown until we moved out onto the road in June 2021. Since then, we’ve struggled to incorporate yoga in our daily lives now that we’re on the road full time. The variables we face on the road have thrown our daily practice for a loop. It’s either the weather or the proximity to our neighbors or a lack of desire to get on the mat. It takes so much discipline to keep up a daily practice. It’s something we strive to maintain even if it’s not daily. There’s so much more we can learn from yoga, if only we give ourselves time on the mat.

I’m sending you all dear readers sunshine from the sunniest spot in America.

Love always, r

P.S. I hope you’re spring weekend is restful and full of love. Oh and don’t forget about filing taxes! haha

Next week, I’ll be discussing the various creatures I’ve met/seen on the road for the last 10 months.