The Big YES!
- By onthemat
- •
- 30 Mar, 2016
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Yoga teaches us to connect to our bodies, to the sensations we feel, to the intricacies of breath and movement. When we really connect on a daily basis, we begin to train ourselves to hear the answer from that deep intuitive place that wants you to live your life filled with more opportunities to say, […]
Yoga teaches us to connect to our bodies, to the sensations we feel, to the intricacies of breath and movement. When we really connect on a daily basis, we begin to train ourselves to hear the answer from that deep intuitive place that wants you to live your life filled with more opportunities to say, “Yes!”
So what did I say yes to? If you read the latest newsletter, you already know a bit of this story. For those who don’t, I will be going to Yangon (Rangoon) in Myanmar (Burma) with 3 other yoga teachers to teach yoga and meditation. We will teach 200+ Buddhist nuns and orphans for 3 hours a day, in an all female monastery during
Water Festival
Week, their New Year’s celebration.
You may ask why did I say yes!? In 2011 my mom, who has supported my yoga and meditation explorations completely, traveled in Burma with my dad and friends. When she returned, she gave me a scarf with this note:
This is a scarf the monk gave me for you because I said I felt you were with me in Burma. I have one also and it is very special to me. It hangs in my dressing room.
I’ve always known Burma was high on my bucket list, and when Marni began talking about spending summers in Burma, I knew something was about to happen.
So who is Marni? Friday, February 13 I attended a “
Wisdompreneurs
” intensive the day before my favorite conference,
Wisdom 2.0
, in San Francisco. What is a Wisdompreneur? It’s a person who desires to bring the wisdom and mindfulness perspective to entrepreneurial pursuits. There were
7 different workshops
to choose from, and I chose “Claiming your Path, Living Your Purpose” with 4 amazing coaches. The day was conducted through the symbolism of a Medicine Wheel. Each coach took a direction and led us through exercises.
After the conference, I joined the group of coaches and people in my group to go to dinner with. 8 of us piled into an Uber, and at the last minute, Walter asked Marni, a woman not in our group if she had plans. She squished in and sat next to me.
We were riding to dinner, chatting all 9 of us, and somehow Marni started talking about Burma. Burma? My ears perked up because I knew I wanted to travel to Burma in my near future. She then told me about the nuns, and
I said, “Oh. I want to come.”
She said, “Do you teach yoga?”
She asked, “Kids and teen yoga?”
I said, “I will! Oh, when are you going?
She said, “April.”
I said, “Great! I’m not doing anything in April.”
As some of you know, I am a new Empty Nester living in a new apartment, so I have the freedom to travel.
There is a back-story to this that involves some fun synchronicity, which seems to follow me these days.
I had one of those familiar conflicts this February, which is so difficult when you want to do two things, which are occurring at the same time. I was skiing in Vail with my brother’s family, and my friend Will from Kentucky was coming on Wednesday night, and I really wanted to see him, but our only overlap day was Thursday. The dilemma was that I would be missing the Wisdompreneur intensive on Friday. It was a tough decision, but I hadn’t seen Will in two years.
Tuesday night about 9 pm, Will texted that he had a family emergency, so he couldn’t come to Vail. I was so disappointed, but the next morning I saw things in a different light. I realized I could go to the intensive. Frequent flyer tickets are amazing since I was able to switch with no penalty. This was the silver lining to Will cancelling his trip.
Two years ago, my friend Nancy was supposed to come with me to Wisdom 2.0, but a snowstorm grounded her, and she couldn’t come. I really didn’t want to travel through this workshop alone, so I found a buddy Steve, through the community board. His husband wasn’t coming to the conference, so we became each others’ conference “Plus Ones.”
Fast forward to this year when Steve brought his husband to the conference, and we began to joke that now I was a third wheel since he had his “real” Plus One. I’m kidding, but I did need to find other plans Friday night for dinner since Steve and Jim were busy.
The irony is if two disappointments hadn’t occurred, I would not be going to Burma. The let down of not seeing Will, and then the sting of feeling like a third wheel with Steve, all led to one of the most amazing opportunities in my life! And an adventure I’m so excited to share with my fellow yogis at On The Mat Yoga!
If you would like to contribute school and/or art supplies to the orphans and teen girls who attend school in the monastery, there is a box in the lobby of OTM.
