Wherever you go, there you are, right?
I know you've heard this line before, and whether it was Confucious, Jon Kabat-Zinn, or even Gnarls Barkley where you heard it first, it rings so true. I write you from the Central Coast of California to get a change of pace and weather after being holed up in my little home in the Pacific Northwest for the last few seasons. The darkness and weather of this PNW winter had taken a toll on my psyche and all I wanted to do was to get away from right there, right then. So when friends invited me down to stay in their casita, I packed up my car and hit the road. The road. What a place for transformation. When I drive, I feel present (a necessity while operating a moving vehicle), with ease and joy in my heart. Feeling the road and seeing all the transforming landscape from north to south drew up such love for me. My arrival and first week was met with the joy and ease of family dinners, playing games and watching tv with this wonderful family. In a time when everyone has their own restrictions around their pod, it was a landing that was balm for the soul. I'm now in my 3rd week here. Suddenly, I felt old thought patterns returning, and overwhelming thoughts returned. You know the sort -“Why am I here? Why do I do what I do? Who do I think I am?” The annoying inner critic started to tug at me. I felt a desire to excape. I paused, and honestly, wrote this. I returned to my sankalpa, my deep life intention. I am here to support people to be present in their hearts, bodies and minds. Period. It is that simple. And it expands out into connection. When I teach and lead people to be in their hearts, bodies and minds then I am right there with them; I am right there with YOU. I am joyfully in the present moment, present in my heart, my body and my mind when I am facilitating. Just like what it felt like when I was driving and connecting with my new environment here. Sharing this practice is just like my arrival here with my next-of-kin family. Remembering my sankalpa, and how it radiates out returned me to this present moment. This is the present moment where I hear the water feature gurgling beside me, the click of the keys on my laptop, the wind chimes singing with the wind. I hear my breath as I pause from my typing. Here in my body, present to ease in my heart and letting go of the mind’s inner critic and appreciating being exactly where I am, right here, right now.