In this class we work toward utthita hasta padangusthasana and I talk a bit about recognizing inner beauty. In regard to finding beauty, the other day we went for a kayak paddle on Lake Champlain. The put-in is only about 20 minutes from our house, and that paddle was totally beautiful. We paddled up a bay and then landed on a beautiful spot, had dinner, some wine, and watched the sun set – it was totally great. There were no other boats of any kind on the water, and we only saw 2 other people the whole time, and that was when we came back to the car.
The thing is, we have barely been paddling at all the last couple years. Instead, we bought a little camper and have been towing it to different places around the country and staying in that – most of the time in RV parks. Granted, some places we’ve stayed have been really lovely, but it’s definitely a different experience when sharing your view with a bunch of other people, cars and dogs, then when you are by yourself on an island.
What I’ve recognized is I was searching for this beauty elsewhere. We have a world-class lake with amazing views and wonderful to paddle, but instead I was traveling all over trying to find beauty…it was like I was thinking it should be harder than this to be in a beautiful place, so I’m going to work at it!
I think we do that with ourselves. We have this beauty within us that is always there, and we have a tendency to try to make it harder on ourselves to experience our own beauty. We think we need better clothes, or a bigger house, or a more perfect yoga posture, and then we will finally find beauty. Well, it’s not that hard. It’s always right inside of you and it just takes the belief in that, and a willingness to see it.
I hope you enjoy this week’s class – John