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This weekend from college… Shoshoni Yoga Ashram

This past weekend I left my 1,000 page book, American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau, on my desk and escaped into the mountains– an exact-o knife and drafting paper free environment.

I traveled up to Shoshoni Yoga Ashram, which is a spiritual community that practices Shambhava Yoga. As it explains on Shoshoni’s website, “an ashram is a place devoted to spiritual practice; a place where you can go to learn authentic yoga and meditation practices in a safe and inspiring setting. It’s a relatively new concept for America, but an ancient tradition in many other parts of the world.”

Shambhava Yoga is a type of yoga that embraces the asanas (physical poses,) seva (selfless service,) meditation, and other concepts of conscious living. From being at Shoshoni for just 2 days, I could see how devoted the community is to this practice. It is more than just relaxing, strengthening, and stretching, which is what makes this yoga so authentic and special. Shoshoni’s website states this perfectly: “At a time in America when yoga’s popularity outshines its original purpose, Shambhava Yoga stands as a living example of timeless teachings in a present-day practice. Sri Shambhavananda [the founder] inspires students to combine hard work with heart work and use the practice of meditation to rise above, and grow from, the challenges of everyday life.”

The retreat included 3 yoga, 1 restorative yoga, 1 pranayama, and 2 meditation classes. In addition there was the temple service, which included the reading of mantra, meditation, and joyous dance. It was a liberating experience. There was also a time for art, and a time for seva (selfless service.) A group of us made ghee sticks for their Yajna Fire Ceremony. This ceremony was one of my favorite parts of the weekend because of the uniqueness of the experience. Beginning at 5:00am, the ancient yogic practice lasts 2 hours and consists of making offerings into a sacred fire. Offerings are manifested through spoken mantras and rice thrown into the fire. “[Yajna] Fire ceremony purifies emotions, burns up unresolved conflict and worries, and leaves us feeling lighter, free, and more open inside. As we focus on letting go, the fire dissolves our tensions leaving only Vibhuti, or Sacred Ash, behind. The Vibhuti represents the pure essence of our nature, the Inner Self.” 

Purifies emotions, burns conflict, leaves us feeling free… it doesn’t get much better than that.

The food at Shoshoni was amazing. All of the meals were vegetarian and made from ingredients grown in their own greenhouses. Pumpkin french toast, Cauliflower and root soup, Tom Kah, and many other flavorful dishes that were fresh and hearty. Coming back to the dining hall after those meals will be hard.

As you have seen in the pictures so far, Shoshoni is located in an absolutely beautiful area. It is nestled up in the mountains at an altitude of nearly 10,000ft. The community is made up of cabins, temples, and buildings, each with their own charm. The area is surrounded with hiking trails and Aspen trees, which makes for a wonderful place to explore.

This weekend was an amazing experience and I hope to make it back up to Shoshoni sometime soon! But for now, I am back to that 1,000 page book, exact-o knives, drafting paper, and dining hall food. Wish me luck.

 

This weekend from college… an REI expenditure!
Return of the selfies? Maybe…

I kept this weekend low-key, as I was trying to kick the cold that I caught earlier in the week. I did however, manage to complete some crucial things. No, I didn’t do laundry. No, I didn’t send out those post cards I wrote two weeks ago. I made a trip to REI.

Whenever I walk into REI I am hit with so many feelings. Its a combination of comfort, excitement, and overstimulation, with the underlaying feeling of dissapointment that I can’t really afford anything around me. This is pretty much true for any outdoor store, but REI seems to do this the most.

So I don’t know if it was out of boredom or self pity because I had been sick all week, but I decided to splurge on this particular REI visit.

http://www.rei.com/product/866732/mammut-brecon-ii-gtx-boots-womens

Mammut Brecon II High GTX Women’s Boots

The biggest and most exciting purchase was a new pair of hiking boots. I tried on 7 different pairs which lead me to the winner: Mammut Brecon II GTX boots.

When evaluating the boots I thought about blisters first and foremost. I actually got a little anxious thinking about the blisters from earlier this year (from which I now have scars.) All I can hope is that these boots lead me on many adventures in the future.

 

United-By-Blue-Lets-Get-Lost-Tank-Top-Womens

“Let’s Get Lost” United By Blue tank

 

After finding my boots I proceeded to walk around the store for nearly an hour soaking it all in. I rarely buy clothing with words on it, except when those words are perfect. I just couldn’t pass up this 100% cotton tank.

 

 

Eldrid Cosmic Lady Chalk Bag

Eldrid Cosmic Lady Chalk Bag

 

Lastly I bought a chalk bag and chalk sock. I figured it’s about time I make the purchase… especially because I just joined the newly renovated climbing gym in the rec center. I better get climbing!

 

Today from college… Thoreau and forgetting things.
I might start doing these posts every few days… or I might not… basically don’t expect anything from me!

Farrand Field in the evening

I was in my Introduction to Environmental Design Theory class this morning (it’s a bright and early 8am’er!) and couldn’t help but hear the conversation behind me.

“It’s a fine line… we need to look good this early, but we can’t look like we’ve tried too hard.”

“Yeah like I don’t want the guys thinking I tried to look good but I don’t want to just roll out of bed.”

A few minutes passed and the conversation made a riveting topic switch…

“The trick is showing up to the party with like, a small group. Because like, if we show up in a big group we might as well have ‘freshman’ written on our foreheads.”

“Yeah, like I feel like 6 is the perfect number… wait no maybe that’s like, too many.”

I had a hard time not turning around to identify these dipshits fellow classmates that were having this conversation at 7:54am. If only they knew the irony around the fact they were having a whole conversation about not trying too hard. Ladies… I’d say if you’re strategizing, you’re already trying too hard.

So eventually the professor walked in and I no longer had to resort to the girls behind me for entertainment. Half way through our lecture the professor put up a quote by Thoreau that almost made me laugh… out loud. The quote read as this:

“Which would have advanced the most at the end of a month — the boy who had made his own jackknife from the ore which he had dug and smelted, reading as much as would be necessary for this — or the boy who had attended the lectures on metallurgy at the Institute in the meanwhile, and had received a Rodgers’ penknife from his father? Which would be most likely to cut his fingers?”

Here I am, trying to convince myself that college is where I am meant to be… when this quote shows up. It seemed almost pointed towards me– highlighting the drastic change from my life last year and this new college life.

Would I love to return to that “jackknife making boy gal?” Well of course. But in the end, I suppose it’s a good idea to “attend lectures on metallurgy design theory” also.

Alana doing homework... this wasn't even stagedOn another note, we had a free-write in Writing class today. The starting point was: ‘I don’t remember…’

Mine went as follows:

“I don’t remember a lot of things. Sometimes I try to forget, and sometimes things just escape my mind. Regardless of how or why it happens, I have to figure– I’m better off without those memories. As least, that’s what I tell myself after missing a deadline.”

My inner most thoughts… they speak the truth.

08/28/14

“Adventure is just a perspective”

Two months ago I was crossing Europe’s largest continental glacier… a lot has changed since then. The only thing I am crossing is the North Beach Pool bridge, as I walk the length of the pool yelling for Makos to “kick! kick! kick!”

 

I’ve had trouble adjusting to my seemingly adventure-less RVA suburbia life. I’ll periodically scroll through my posts and watch the adventure level dwindle away as my most recent posts appear. As I was deciding whether or not to post about my coaching job, I was told that:  “adventure is just a perspective.”

I was then prompted to look up the definition of ‘adventure’ on dictionary.com. 

Ad·ven·ture [ad-ven-cher]

verb

¹An exciting or very unusual experience

²Participation in exciting undertakings or enterprises

So, I began thinking of my swim coaching job as an adventure. Coaching a summer swim team is definitely an ‘exciting undertaking.’ As coaches, we invest time and energy into the team, and in return a passion grows within us. That passion makes things that might seem ordinary to some, very exciting. Whether it’s watching an angel shark blow their bubbles, or cheering on the neck-to-neck relays at 10:00pm every Tuesday night, it’s exciting.

Unusual. Most might ask: ‘what is unusual about being a swim coach?’ Well my response to that would be: when there are kids involved… it’s most likely unusual. Kids have an innate tendency to be brutally honest, inspiringly imaginative, and cheerfully silly. There are so many moments when I am left thinking: ‘How am I supposed to answer a question like that?’ Or: ‘How does their mind come up with that sort of thing?’ And not to mention: “What on Earth is that kid talking about?!” A fellow coach of mine, Elena, and I have an ongoing discussion about how excited kids get over the smallest things. We try to do the same– jumping up and down, and exclaiming our joy over minuscule things such as a new straw color at Starbucks… it just doesn’t work as well for us. Unfortunately people grow out of those traits I mentioned before, more often than not. But that’s a whole different topic– let’s save it for another day.

I know calling my everyday job ‘an adventure’ might be a stretch– especially compared to survival trips and foreign city exploring– but if there’s one thing I’ve recently realized*, it’s this:

Life itself is one large unknown, and it doesn’t get any more adventurous than that. 

So despite my current (and TEMPORARY) mountain-less, tent-less, non-risky, travel-free life… with the right attitude, it can still be exciting!

*Disclaimer: ‘Realized’ might be a tiny exaggeration… I still haven’t fully kicked the travel-blues. Tips?