“Our practice is a shelter we build for our spiritual selves.  It is the work that we do to safeguard and support the possibility of spiritual growth.  The winds of life constantly wear away at this shelter, but if we stick to our tools, the shelter will hold.”

-Rolf Gates, Meditations from the Mat:  Daily Reflections on the Path of Yoga

Day 11 – Returning from my solo camping trip and the end of spring break has been difficult, but bittersweet.  The realization while hiking alone that Nature has been effortlessly manifesting its stillness and rhythms simultaneously while I am lost within the busy chaos of work and everyday life was needed.  The return to Orlando gave me the opportunity to see and feel something that has always been there, but I had lost touch in my efforts to get away, and that something was the love of family and safety of home.  And yet, Rolf points out in today’s reading, there is still much work to do in order to be present for these gifts and opportunities.

I’m not sure that yoga is the “right” way, but it is one way.  Daily practice is one tool I use to get through the tough and contrary forces which forge my work day; nonetheless, the forest and mountains and the waterfalls remain and the love of my family thrives.  Hiking through the woods (somewhere about mile 12), the news feed that runs through my mind constantly quieted and I knew that everything will be okay.  So, too, it was hard to lose our Winnie dog, and her passing on Friday night marks an end of era (of sorts) for our family.  Right until the end, she was sweet and loving.  There are so many miraculous and omnipresent processes at play, we just have to remember these.  As I step on the mat today, I remember why I practice.