If I had to pick a theme for my travels this fall, it would have to be water. From the Spirit of the Lakes in Minnesota, to the weird fish consciousness of Florida to the drought in Texas. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me go chronologically.
Vermont: We arrived back in the US. First stop: Vermont and the pleasure of seeing my brother-in-law Chris Colt’s made-for-community-theatre-production of The Blues Brothers. He co-starred with Chris Miller. The production featured much other talented Maple Corner (I am not making that up) actors and musicians. “Rawhide” was unbelievably fun.
New York: I arrived in NY to Nicolai Bachman’s new book The Path of the Yoga Sutras: A Practical Guide to the Core of Yoga. I found it a kind and useful meditation on beautiful sounds and meanings from Patanjali’s sutras and a gentle, knowledgeable guide for pilgrims starting on the way of yoga and similar paths. I find the writing clear, topics and quotes well chosen and approach practical, empathic and, again, kind.
I also received a copy of Mark Kelso’s new album, Grief and Grace, which Mark was working on in the Spring, just as I lost a dear friend and the words grief and grace had consciously set up camp right next to each other in my heart. The album was recorded partially in response to a young man in Mark’s family who had committed suicide. Mark’s voice and vulnerability lend expression to what I feel sure many of us have felt at one point or another.
When I last saw Mark, he had shared a segment of another album he was recording. It was a clip of young children singing, “Dona Nobis,” a piece I really cherish. The next day, as I was with the family of my departed friend, as we stood around his body, his widow began to sing. Dona Nobis. Sometimes the strands that comprise the fabric of life are especially visible and poignant. That Dona Nobis album is now out too, and one I plan to get. It’s called, One Fire. Both should be available on Mark’s website. http://muddyangel.com/index.php?filename=discography.html
Minnesota: I’d never had the pleasure of spending time in MN before. Flying in I saw below us– forgive the syrupy sound of this–a lake in the shape of a goddess, with a snaky river running from her to irrigate the local plains. I saw many other lakes. Didn’t know that Minnesota’s slogan is “Land of 10,000 lakes,” but it doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure out why. I was contemplating on the “Spirit of the Lakes,” and the goddessy example we flew over, as I arrived at “Spirit of the Lakes Yoga and Wellness,” the venue for the weekend workshop, in Excelsior, MN.
Excelsior is a charming town to the West of the Twin Cities. Word has it that there was a character named Jimmy Hutmaker, who lived in Excelsior for decades until he passed away October 3, 2007. In the 60′s, the story goes, the Stones played in Excelsior. While there, Mick had tried—unsuccessfully—to get a Cherry Coke at a local drugstore. Jimmy, in line behind him, said, “You can’t always get what you want.” And the rest, as they say, is history. Fun.
Spirit of the Lakes was founded only about a year ago by the lovely Lisa Bergly, and managed by Kripalu alumnus Tricia Sletten, but has a maturity and community feel usually associated with older studios.
I had the pleasure there of seeing Southwest Acupuncture College alumnus Dr. Larry Caldwell, who is now an acupuncturist in the Twin Cities and author of Revealing Healing:
Helping your body-mind to connect to your emotional-mind
to relieve pain and suffering. I found it an honest, vulnerable account of how childhood patterns affect our emotions, how emotions affect our organs and how to address those imbalances.
It was an enjoyable workshop and terrific to see Ayurvedic Institute alumnus, nurse Marcia Meredith, and Dr. Kay Schwebke, a dedicated and thoughtful MD, who sports the following bumper sticker on her car: “Ask your doctor if taking medical advice from a television commercial is right for you.” Good idea.
I think if a Minnesotan-born US president were asked their profession, they might say, “I work in government.” Lisa, Tricia, Marcia and Kay in a typically Minnesotan way, are understated, modest sources of Ayurvedic and Yogic wisdom, practice and knowledge in the Twin cities.
Florida: If the Spirit of the Lakes was prevalent in MN, the consciousness of Odd Fish was prevalent in Florida. Not so much, “wow, what an interesting fish.” More like, “Wow. What an interesting fish. Let’s catch and eat it.” And mount it.
This sentiment seemed to apply to other mildly aquatic creatures as well. Upon exiting the Everglades, a billboard: “You’ve seen the gators. Now taste them” advertised a burger joint where the burgers were made of, you guessed it. I was relieved to hear that the “dolphin” I was seeing on menus was not the Flipper kind, but mahi mahi, an unusual-looking fish. Mahi mahi means “very strong” in Hawaiian.
Texas: Flying into Austin from the East, I saw a couple rivers with the sun lighting them up like silver ribbons. Did you see the Harry Potter movies? Remember what the Unicorn blood looked like? That is what these rivers looked like. Flowing silver. The metaphor extends further, as this past summer, water became almost as rare, as southern Texas saw the worst one-year drought in its state history. Among other crops, even hay suffered. Prices more than doubled, forcing many ranchers to sell or even abandon all of their cattle and horses because they could not afford to feed them.
If the land was suffering from lack of moisture, the participants at the Austin workshop were anything but dry. We had a delightful weekend and I understand the Austin Ayurveda Sangha was founded that very weekend. With graduates of Kripalu (Vivian) and Ayurvedic Institute (Kerry, Dr. Steve, Melissa) to practitioners of Chinese Medicine (Lydia), to old and new friends (Melina and everyone else in the room J), it was such a pleasurable weekend of good companionship.
Confession: I had one of those almost-instant karma events shortly after leaving Austin. I had waxed overly-cocky (I heard it as the words were leaving my lips) during the seminar, about the efficacy of neti pots… and caught a cold 3 days later (admittedly the first in over a year—I still vouch for the Neti). Gratefully, I caught it after enjoying the “Heart of Texas” at Enchanted Rock, with Dr. Robert Svoboda and some of his comrades. On Wednesday, I got to lay flat at the home of the good Dr., who brought me tea at regular intervals, before I had to head to Dallas on Thursday.
Thursday night, in spite of the cold, I had the great pleasure of a sweet –if brief—reunion with Ayurvedic Institute alumnus Purvi Bhatt and to meet her adorable and very well behaved children, for the first time. By the time I had to speak on Friday, I was able to speak without sneezing and, by the end of speaking on Sunday, the cold had resolved, in part due to the kindness of the organizers of the weekend events. Yay. Friday night’s talk and book signing was at the Crow Collection of Asian Arts, a set of galleries that offered a serene and meaningful backdrop for the evening. As I was enjoying it’s exhibits before the talk, I came across two good omens for the weekend, and indeed for working with women’s health in general. The first was a Jade engraving called, Queen Mother of the West Journies in Her Chariot. Queen Mother of the West is the earliest depiction of a diety in the Taoist tradition. She was first depicted about 1600-1050 BC, but I think this engraving was from the 1st or 3rd century AD. On the Queen Mother’s descriptive placard were inscribed these words:
The Valley Spirit (i.e. the Tao) never dies.
It is named the Mysterious Female.
And the doorway of the Mysterious Female
Is the base from which Heaven and Earth sprang
It is there within us all the while
Draw upon it as you will, it never runs dry [emphasis mine]
-Laozi The Way of Life trans. Arther Waley
Omen #2 was the last thing I looked at before heading in to teach: a jade carving of a fish. I find this particularly interesting because of the importance of pranayama in balancing hormones. Tradition has it that the ida and pinglala, the channels associated with the left and right nostrils are like rivers—one that cools and nourishes and one that stimulates and warms. The prana that travels on the currents of these rivers is likened to a fish. Jade is considered to be cooling and nourishing, qualities that particularly benefit ambitious, burned out modern women.
We had an enjoyable weekend at David Sunshine’s Dallas Yoga Center, a gorgeous oasis and mecca for many kinds of yoga and therapies, including acupuncture and Ayurvedic treatments. The delightful Kathleen Lohr offers Ayurvedic bodywork there and the center in general is a wonderful resource for overall health in Dallas. My friend, Dr. Renee Rossi is also in the Dallas area. She is a long-time ENT surgeon who is about to embark on the study of Ayurveda through the long distance Mount Madonna program in California. So maybe you can look her up in a year or so J
Rhode Island: A relaxing and rejuvenating visit with family, with extremely pleasant ocean walks and brief visit and book signing at Whole Foods in Providence, where I had the pleasure of meeting Allie Oliver, Renee Harrington and seeing Lisa, a Kripalu alumnus who now practices Ayurveda in Hopkinton, MA, and meeting her sister and father. (Lisa, if you read this, leave a comment letting us know your contact info for your practice, please. I neglected to get that from you.)
Also in RI: Among the treasures bequeathed me by my (late) father, I count his friend Neville Bedford: attorney with dazzling intellectual capacity, endearing honesty, brilliant children, and not-insubstantial trench coat. He bought Balance Your Life… and had it signed. A hot shot lawyer guy interested in balanced women. Hard not to love.
So, aside from an annual weekend at Kripalu School of Ayurveda that I look forward to in early December, my autumn is winding down, circadian rhythms stabilizing and enjoyment of autumn alive.
In closing, I would like to say this to those of you who are practicing Ayurveda and good health practices in general, whether on your own or with clients or patients: you are not alone. In every state I’ve spoken in, I have found at least one, and often a few practitioners who are carrying on, practicing these solid, health-bestowing principles and, often, you are feeling like you are alone. You simply are not alone. You may be one of a small handful in your area, but there are practitioners all over the world now. Twenty years ago you may well have been alone. Now…you are not. I really can’t bring myself to say that there are “points of light” all over. It’s just too schmaltzy. So let’s just say that all efforts anywhere towards self-responsibility for healthy lifestyle and diet practices, towards conscious living…well, it all counts. It counts a lot. How do I know this? I see it.
But I’ll leave it at that and close before this becomes either too sentimental or my second book.
Happy Autumn. We have a lot to be grateful for.