“Through yoga, we learn to bring our attention to a particular area of our bodies, or in our lives, and keep it there–and the results are nothing short of miraculous.”

-Rolf Gates, Meditations from the Mat:  Daily Reflections on the Path of Yoga

Day 30 – Rolf writes of the “infinity of paths” beneath our feet as we find our mountain pose, explaining:  “Each time we find our mountain we choose what kind of traveler we will be.”  My own mountain has taken me from fitness instructor to elementary school teacher to reading teacher to special education teacher.  My own mountain has taken me as child to wife and mother.  In general, my mountain has led me down the path into the forest of nurturing.  My mountain is comfortable and known, and I work on cultivating my mountain, disentangling myself from the wild and wooly weeds and building make-to shelters for year-after-year of educational reforms and societal expectations.  Yet, Rolf reminds us:  “We cannot choose for tomorrow; we can choose only for this moment, this body, this breath.”

And so here I am…October! No escape from the overwhelming world feeling no time to dance in the timeless bliss of now.   Instead of feeling robbed of wisdom and energy, I have stepped back on the mat.  Daily practice of appreciating the now, gratitude for the place I step into each day, each morning, is needed! From this moment, I step into a day full of wonder and surprises, not as a mountain dweller, but as an explorer.  I am ready to leave my mountain.