Coming Home

During the last half of summer this year, I traveled over 10 hours by air and spent more than 52 hours on the road to spend time at yoga retreats and festivals, visiting my family and dear friends, and to go day and night hiking up mountains. My wander lusting inner gypsy was certainly active!

What called me to go on these journeys was not only the opportunity to connect with loved ones and see beautiful places, but also a deep inner calling to be in the elements. I feel drawn to places that are stunning in their array of light, water, earth, and air- the Big Sur coastline, Topanga Canyon, the glacial lakes of Mt. Rainier and the Cascades, Whistler mountain, the incredible heat and Milky Way dazzled skies of the Joshua Tree desert, and along the great river of my own desert homeland- the Columbia River Gorge. 

Back in the Emerald City, I have a very short schlep up to the top of Capitol Hill to the yoga studio I teach at from my house on the north edge of Lake Union. At this studio, the Grinning Yogi, we have a monthly theme for all of our classes and the theme of this month, as we transition seasons from summer to fall, is "Connection." To me, connection means being at home- at home in yourself, at home in your practice, at home in the elements. 

How do you know where home is? What does it feel like, to you? Do you feel at home in your yoga practice- and isn't that really the point? 

Perhaps because I have been travelling so much to be with loved ones, or because my life in general has been full of major transitions over the past few years, the poignancy of feeling at home has never been more palpable. Home is a place we instantly know, and it can be anywhere. When we're there, we're relaxed and free. 

Our heart is the inner GPS. Whenever we're feeling disconnected or distressed, one of the best soothers is simply to bring a hand to our heart so that we can literally feel connected to our own pulse and become centered. We formed in the womb as our cells entrained to the rhythm of our mother's heartbeat. One of the most relaxing things we know might be laying down next to a loved one with our ear on their chest, listening to the beat of their heart. Or, we might love being in a small cave or dolmen or underwater where all we hear is the echo of our heart beat, or listening to (or singing!) our favorite song or piece of music.

We all have the urge to be home, in a place where we feel loved and free. Our yoga practices bring us to the place we recognize instantly as our inner home. 

One of my favorite meditation books, the Radiance Sutras, has a meditation practice about being at home:

There is a space in the heart where everything meets.

Come here if you want to find me.

Mind, senses, soul, eternity- all are here. 

Are you here?

Enter the bowl of vastness that is the heart.

Listen to the song that is always resonating.

Give yourself to it with total abandon.

Quiet ecstasy is here -

And a steady, regal sense of resting in a perfect spot.

You who are the embodiment of blessing,

Once you know the way, 

The nature of attention will call you to return.

Again and again, answer that call,

And be saturated with knowing,

"I belong here, I am at home."

This is Sutra 26, from the Radiance Sutras, a new version of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra, by Dr. Lorin Roche, PhD. Find out more at www.lorinroche.com.

*New Fall Schedule

Join me for classes at the Grinning Yogi:

Tuesdays, 9:30-10:45 AM, Groovin' Flow

Wednesdays, 7:30-8:45 PM, Chillin' Flow

Fridays, 4-5:15 PM, Groovin' Flow

Women's Meditation Course: 

I'm offering a meditation/yoga course specifically designed to support our unique needs as women, based on my work with Lorin Roche and his wife Camille Maurine and their book Meditation Secrets for Women. The classes will be on Thursday evenings at Sutra Yoga in Wallingford, 7:15-8:45pm, starting October 11th, 2012. Contact me if you're interested (via the contact link on this site). More details forthcoming!