Week One of Ashram Life

Sep 5 2017

Today is Day Five of the Pop Up Ashram here in the RRG. Many have asked for updates, probably out of this universal human curiosity about what happens when we float a dream into the ether of reality. The vision I expressed was for a communal experience, but many things start small and usually quietly. The first two days, I did the 7 am practice solo, watching wisps of incense waft into the still sunrise air. Then that first evening, my friend Luca and his friend Ridge visited me at the Squire after dinner. Ridge and I stayed up a bit too late talking about our shared interest in the healing vibrations of rocks and crystals, the spirituality of rock climbing, the law of attraction, and the art of living life as a charmed soul. I went to sleep that night feeling very held by my spirit guides; the evening was proof that angels do take human form.

Sunday morning, Lila and I gathered for our "Yoga Church" service, including a fire ceremony. Usually, I relish my fire starting skills. I carefully layer the paper/bark, then tiny twigs, then smaller twigs, then twigs, branches and logs in such a way that the whole thing takes off with only one light. All I have to do is remember the way that fire moves, from small, easy to catch tinder, to bigger stuff, and always upwards. But this morning, all the firewood I had gathered was wet, and mostly rotten, and even the paper was wet. First we sat and did some prayers and chants, then I constructed as intentional of a fire pile as possible. And still, the pile smoked, and smoldered and sputtered, even as we kept adding more paper, and lighting it over and over again in different places. As Lila and I nurtured a fire into existence during our fire ceremony at "Yoga Church" on Sunday morning, it felt like a metaphor for what I am doing here in the Gorge. Is this really the place for the community that I am envisioning? Is this something that would just take a really long time to “take off”?

Sometimes when I am creating something, I feel like the universe sits back and watches the original spark, to make sure it has staying power, to make sure that it can be trusted, to make sure it has some integrity and steadiness before the universe contributes its own momentum.

Monday morning, I got to lead my friend Jeremy from Louisville in his first yoga experience. That was a really fulfilling thing to share, and I’d like to do more of that kind of sharing.

Looking forward, it’s hard to say if I will continue to be able to muster up the social courage to continue to invite people to practice with me, and to step into sacred and devotional space together. I continue to offer myself up in service to the divine, and wish to be in alignment with the power of inspiration.