Cars curving along 39th Avenue. The click of a clock. Inhales, exhales, mats coming into contact with the floor, that one loud lady bursting into a fit of laughter. Silence. Footsteps, whispers, another silence. There is the smell of candle wax and anticipation in the air. It's Friday night Happy Hour and our Dave has returned from LA to lead a ninety minute yoga class.
I missed Dave's last visit in September which was a 4 hour session of yoga philosophy, asanas, and pranayama (breath work) because I had gone to see the remaining members of The Grateful Dead, known now as Furthur, the night before. So this particular Happy Hour was on my calender for quite some time and I missed going to ZenSpot in the morning, knowing I would be practicing with Dave tonight.
I had my old membership card which expired in August but should have had one last class to my credit. They couldn't bring it up on the computer so Laurie (another instructor I've practiced with) ushered me in with no hassle or expectation of payment.
There was a hint of sadness in the air: the Tamarack Wellness Center is scheduled to close its doors in the very near future. I have not confirmed this with any Tamarack staff, I am just repeating what we were told by Dave. Tamarack is a non-profit organization that offers a 90*F saltwater ultraviolet sanitized therapeutic pool, swim lessons, many different yoga classes, Feldenkrais, breast cancer survivor support groups, Musikgarten for children, massage therapists and even behavior modification and stress reduction with a very qualified facilitator. Plus they can boast about having the second largest Solar Thermal Ray Heating System in the Pacific Northwest. Tamarack has served this area for thirty years but has been really struggling recently so the shut down is not a total surprise. Just a shame.
There was joy in the air: we were here practicing yoga with each other, in our familiar sequence of sun salutations and lunges, down dogs and sweet, sweet savasana. I experienced about quarter of a second of True Savasana as I laid there in the candlelight with the hint of a Japanese flute whispering its notes into the dim night air. I describe my True Savasana as a loss of struggling against thoughts. Sometimes it lasts longer but by the time I notice the experience, it's over because I'm noticing it. It is that in between, that nothing that is so hard to grasp.
In my second or third class with Dave and I entered True Savasana and literally saw Buddha in my mind's eye. No prompting, no wishful thinking, no lie. I saw Buddha. It's rare for me to get into "TS" since so often I'm thinking about food, dogs, work, tomorrow, yesterday, last Tuesday, the checking account, my shopping list, the oil change I forgot to get, the books I'm reading, something someone said, writing my blog...all these savasana-stealing thoughts that are worthless at the moment. My body can easily shut down into a relaxed state but this mind is just like yours: human.
In contrast to the hot yoga I've been practicing lately, Dave's classes are slow paced, very repetitive, relaxing, like a gently moving song that you didn't realize was playing until it's almost over, like a brain spa.
I missed Dave's last visit in September which was a 4 hour session of yoga philosophy, asanas, and pranayama (breath work) because I had gone to see the remaining members of The Grateful Dead, known now as Furthur, the night before. So this particular Happy Hour was on my calender for quite some time and I missed going to ZenSpot in the morning, knowing I would be practicing with Dave tonight.
I had my old membership card which expired in August but should have had one last class to my credit. They couldn't bring it up on the computer so Laurie (another instructor I've practiced with) ushered me in with no hassle or expectation of payment.
There was a hint of sadness in the air: the Tamarack Wellness Center is scheduled to close its doors in the very near future. I have not confirmed this with any Tamarack staff, I am just repeating what we were told by Dave. Tamarack is a non-profit organization that offers a 90*F saltwater ultraviolet sanitized therapeutic pool, swim lessons, many different yoga classes, Feldenkrais, breast cancer survivor support groups, Musikgarten for children, massage therapists and even behavior modification and stress reduction with a very qualified facilitator. Plus they can boast about having the second largest Solar Thermal Ray Heating System in the Pacific Northwest. Tamarack has served this area for thirty years but has been really struggling recently so the shut down is not a total surprise. Just a shame.
There was joy in the air: we were here practicing yoga with each other, in our familiar sequence of sun salutations and lunges, down dogs and sweet, sweet savasana. I experienced about quarter of a second of True Savasana as I laid there in the candlelight with the hint of a Japanese flute whispering its notes into the dim night air. I describe my True Savasana as a loss of struggling against thoughts. Sometimes it lasts longer but by the time I notice the experience, it's over because I'm noticing it. It is that in between, that nothing that is so hard to grasp.
In my second or third class with Dave and I entered True Savasana and literally saw Buddha in my mind's eye. No prompting, no wishful thinking, no lie. I saw Buddha. It's rare for me to get into "TS" since so often I'm thinking about food, dogs, work, tomorrow, yesterday, last Tuesday, the checking account, my shopping list, the oil change I forgot to get, the books I'm reading, something someone said, writing my blog...all these savasana-stealing thoughts that are worthless at the moment. My body can easily shut down into a relaxed state but this mind is just like yours: human.
In contrast to the hot yoga I've been practicing lately, Dave's classes are slow paced, very repetitive, relaxing, like a gently moving song that you didn't realize was playing until it's almost over, like a brain spa.
No comments:
Post a Comment