In this moment......

Yoga isn't just a series of poses that you do on a mat.  The word yoga roughly translates to mean "union." We've all had moments of yoga....a time when you're just plugged into the moment...when the mind stops ticking away and you're just present.  My first yoga teacher called them "peak experiences."  Some people have these peak experiences while engrossed in music, some when doing something athletic, I've never experienced childbirth but I'm pretty sure some achieve a state of yoga then, some of us have these experiences in nature.  They are usually those points in life that you can remember almost perfectly, no matter how much time passes.

My experiences of yoga happen most often in nature.  The pictures in this posting are from a very special moment of yoga in my life.  A few years ago I took myself on a little roadtrip around Northern CA.  It was a trip filled with moments of pure bliss and connection to myself and to nature.  I didn't make any plans, I just knew where I'd stay each night, and that was it.  This particular moment happened when I was winding down from a fun day of kayaking and eating fresh oysters with total strangers.  I was staying a few days at Point Reyes National Seashore, about an hour north of San Francisco.  That evening I decided to head to Limantour Beach to watch the sun set.  It was windy and cold but I was determined to see the sun set over the beach.

I got to the beach and was alone, except for a lady who was dancing in the wind:

You can barely see the wind dancing lady, she's right above my shadow

I took off my sneakers and plunged my feet into the waves even though the September water was freezing!  The wind was blowing burning salty sand on my weary legs but I didn't care.  I had my camera out, madly capturing the beauty around me that was breathtaking.  I got there early enough that the sun was still high in the sky, yet rapidly making it's descent to the horizon and I was transfixed.  I walked along the water towards the setting sun, soaking in the beauty and simplicity of the moment.  I said aloud, "Universe....send me some dolphins!  I want to see dolphins!!" I turned my head to look at the water and this is what I saw, not dolphins but:

A pair of funny little seals poking their heads out and staring at me.  They seemed to be just as fascinated with me as I was with them.  As I walked toward the sun, they kept pace with me in the water, showing off their wave-riding moves, poking their heads out every so often to look at me and make sure I was still watching them. 

Eventually the seals swam off when they realized I'd lost myself in the sunset.  I was absorbed in beauty, dissolved in contentment, no longer separate from the beach, or the sunset, or the wind, or the sand.....I was in union with it all.  As the sun dipped down into the horizon, I watched, waiting for the golden orb to slip silently to rest.

That's why I practice yoga.  That's why I get on the mat and breathe and watch....to tap into and witness that part of myself that is all of this.  The part that is the brilliant sunset, the playful seals, the wind-dancing woman, the crashing waves.  To bring that essence to every moment of every day.