Heart Full

There’s almost nothing I look forward to more, than planning a vacation. I consider it another kind of yoga. Seriously, at its best it’s an extended svasana (corpse pose), my personal mini daily vacation.

That this experience was shared amongst 4 of my closest friends made this experience that much more memorable. We couldn’t have predicted how well the vacation went. I had been to Miami before, and as a self proclaimed beach snob, I forewarned my friends (also beach snobs) that south beach was “nothing to write home about”, but the atmosphere was party-ish and fun. Besides, as long as it was sunny, it would be fine.

As it turns out, I was wrong in the best way possible. The beach is jaw dropping. More so believe it or not than the many beautiful bikini-clad girls. We had to walk at least a few hundred yards of clear blue water, and soft sand to get to water deep enough to wade in, it was exhilarating.
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During our teacher training program KL had peppered her insights with what she was learning and going through as a student from her teacher. At first I was surprised she had a teacher, I just assumed that she didn’t need a teacher, at least not one in the way she was a teacher to us. But then, I became incredibly curious. I mean she was already so much more knowledgeable and enlightened than we were, how much MORE was her teacher? I imagined a yoda-like figure who’s very look could enlighten you. It turns out he’s not a fictional character and actually opened up a studio near Union Square, Ishta Yoga. And KL now had a class there and invited us to come. I could barely wait.

I wanted to go first and foremost to support KL, her teachings have developed my practice in unbelievable ways, and going to support her was the least I could do. But I also wanted to see where SHE practices, and did it resemble Narnia? It was close. The studio was new, and still had a luminous unused quality to it. The amenities were immaculate, with yes, real changing rooms and sparkling bathrooms. But most impressive was the studio. It had a modern industrial aesthetic with a Zen feel, dark wood floors, white walls, high ceiling, and well placed lighting. The ceiling height gave it unusual spaciousness as if you were walking into a world of yoga, and not a just a studio. I also liked how the separate room for props demarcated the main studio, as if all students “past this point” shouldn’t be encumbered with citta vritti (fidgety thoughts) but focused on the moment.

Yet, despite the encouraging environment to focus on the yoga, I couldn’t. The girls were there, I obviously was not the only one curious about the place. More than half of the Winter 2008 Kaya Yoginis showed up, and it had been weeks since so many of us were together. It’s amazing what can transpire in a couple of weeks, many of them were well on their way to the new beginnings they had just started during training, and I wanted to hear all about it. We couldn’t stop chatting, and like school kids KL had to eventually shush us into taking our seats. It was heart full to see them again, to share what we’ve been up to, and our experiences since the training program. This is one of the best unions in yoga and one that’s often overlooked. I’d forgotten how much strength and support one can get from the many, and i understood then why even if KL always seemed confident and strong in her teaching, she still wanted her girls there.