Greetings and salutations! How's that for a beginning?
So much to tell from last week (has it really been since Monday?). First off, photos... here's a link to my Flickr photostream for the tour - CLICK HERE!
Kelly (Kamala) from the studio in Danvers took me out yesterday with her amazing camera for some new photos. People have been curious to see that I've gone from hair, to bald, to hair with beard -- it's very confusing, but a little fun for me to practice non-attachment to any one way of looking.
Monday night we drove to New Hampshire and the DRAGONFLY YOGA BARN in North Sandwich. There Katie, Declan and their kids (Finnean and Bridey) made us feel right at home in their new retreat center. Christian and I had our choice of 14 beds and all the floor space we could image. They've done such an amazing job with restoring this 200 year old barn to a new purpose in life. Katie also greeted us with some of the best homemade cookies I'd tasted in a long time. We got a day of rest and recovery and then set up for Kirtan on Tuesday, first spending the day collecting daffodils to make the space even more beautiful and fragrant. The kirtan was amazing with such great offerings brought to the SVAHA sonic fire. Afterwards we sat up talking and laughing with Katie and Declan until 1am sharing stories and perspectives. The next morning (Wednesday), Declan prepared a fantastic Irish breakfast for us and sent us off to Kripalu with full hears and full bellies.
We arrived at Kripalu just in time to set up (I HAD to stop for a haircut and a beard trim). The staff met us joyfully and gave us the best of everything. The Kirtan was probably our largest yet with something like 70 people coming to chant. We've been slowly integrating a new Lakshmi chant that really took off full-force here. The next day, we helped ourselves to food, yoga classes and I even got a dip in the whirlpool. We took a long walk on the grounds before driving off again, this time heading to Shelburne Falls.
The studio in Shelburne Falls is run by this great guy named Lindel Hart. He met us with his son, Hugh, and they helped us get organized. I have the cutest pictures of Hugh playing the harmonium with me -- I'll try to get those for the blog soon. We had a terrific experience. The group was small but their voices were big. The event of the night was Christian leading his new chant "Om Ganapatiye" all alone, in preparation for our retreat in Pennsylvania later this month. It was a hit! Jai, Christian!
Friday night was our first East Coast return engagement, at Soni Yoga in Cambridge. The space was as beautiful as we remembered and we had a batch of 20 chanters, all of whom were meeting us for the first time. We also had a nice visit with some fellows from an ashram farther north (no names, please) who joined us for Kirtan, although they seemed a little unnerved because of our unorthodoxy. During the prassad afterward, one really engaged me about how we needed to meet his guru and study the true yoga. It was especially fascinating because we had just chanted the Locks & Keys, including the lesson about just having a peaceful delight in the righteousness of others, even if it's not your own path. One of the fellows was especially strident and I felt a sense of sadness that we had this "block" between us that made it hard to truly be in yoga with each other; however, I also really appreciated his devotion to his path and to his teacher. I hope they were able to have peace as they left, in spite of our non-traditional way of being -- I embraced them as my brothers and thanked them for being with us in love.
Saturday morning, we headed into Boston and had a truly amazing Chinese lunch in Chinatown. Wow! Christian went to the New England Conservatory for his undergrad so he had me marching up and down the streets of Boston as we revisited his old haunts. He wore me out! I don't even remember the drive to Danvers for Saturday night's Kirtan -- I was passed out in the passenger's seat!
Saturday night's kirtan was really something special. The studio was concerned because not many people had signed up, but we all decided to have Kirtan anyway, no matter what. In the end, there were only 5 of us in the room, but WOW -- what a great time. Instead of doing our usual big set up, we only brought out the harmonium, some shakers and a few lights. Everyone sat close and we sang the first chant, "Hari OM" -- this led to a lovely discussion about the meaning of "Hari" and "OM" -- and we really had dharshan on the teachings of truly finding the divine in all things. It just continued as we chanted to Ganesh, Saraswati and Lakshimi -- great conversations and questions from everyone about applying teaching to life. This was a great eye-opener for and definitely something I'd like to continue with other studios, perhaps this summer after my trip to Yogaville in July.
Now, it's Sunday -- Mother's Day. We started today with me teaching an Integral Yoga hatha class in Danvers. We had an opening in our schedule and De-Stress with Yoga Studio invited us to come to Webster tonight for Kirtan in celebration of their 1st anniversary. Mimi (the owner) is so excited since she was with us in Sharron MA a few days ago and we're thrilled to be joining in her energy and meeting her Sangha. In honor of the holiday, we're planning a night of all Devi chants for the creative mother. Jai Ambe!
Sending everyone love and blessings. I invite you to spend sometime today reflecting on your own mother and to the idea that you come from someplace, that there is a source that precedes you and follows from you. And, whether you are a man or a woman, whether you have children or not, we are all the creative mother of the energies we send out into the world. Happy Mother's Day.
Peace, joy, love & light.
Dharmashakti
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