Pausing within the whirlwind..

After eleven days of nightly kirtan, my head is an interesting space to occupy. I practiced for a good while on the harmonium tonight, sitting on a pillow on the kitchen floor, with my mom sitting at the table doing a crossword puzzle and singing quietly along with me.

The harmonium was dropped in transit, and though I was able to figure out how to fix the keys that were displaced, there's a single high B note sounding all the time when the first and last stops are out, and it's not the kind of repair someone can guide you through over the phone. I can play it to practice without those stops being pulled out, but it changes the sound drastically. FedEx will come get it, and a new harmonium is on its way, may it arrive safely and in excellent working condition.

I feel like I'm participating in an immersion program of my own design, wandering around my daily life while thoroughly absorbed in the things I'm learning and studying.

Got up and went to yoga on Wednesday morning, which left me energized and a bit more grounded at the same time, and then went out to breakfast with my sister, which was really nice. Had some good conversations, made baked dates stuffed with goat cheese and got caught up on a week's worth of email, which makes it a productive enough day for me.

The studio is offering a Thanksgiving morning yoga class at 7:30, and I want to make the attempt to get up and begin the day within practice, so I'm off to sleep.

Later.

-Me.

Thankfulness..

Despite going to bed later than intended, thanks to a wonderful conversation, I still got up this morning and made it to the special 7:30 am yoga class. It was packed, lots of people warming up for the Manchester Road Race, and we did a great flow sequence that really got the blood moving.

Came home and made breakfast for my parents, who were still lounging in bed watching the race and the parade, and I opted out of TV exposure and sat downstairs at the kitchen table, looking out the window at the bare branches, listening to a bit of Jai Uttal on the iPod and thinking about thankfulness.

I am so thankful for this incredible process of breaking open and finding myself hidden at the core, there all along. Taking responsibility for my own inner landscape has been ultimately empowering, and I choose over and over again to live this moment in love.

I am deeply thankful for my health, the comforts I enjoy, the home base I share with my family, the friends who generously let me crash with them in MA, Kirtan and yoga teacher training, the new job at Webs, my burgeoning handspun yarn business, my beloved Henri, Sam, Jonathan and Allison, and all the friends and loved ones who grace my life with their presence and affection.

Maharajji ki Jai!

Later.

-Me.