I’ve always loved Fall’s amazing display of transformation. From the lush green shades of Summer, we are transported to the radiant red, gold, orange, yellow and brown hues that mark yet another season of life. Watch the trees effortlessly let go of their leaves and seeds to nurture the earth for new life in the Spring. The trees don’t try to hold their leaves back from falling, nor are the leaves in any rush to fall. Both simply let go. Letting go into the present moment is the only real way to experience that sense of wonder and awe (adbhuta in Sanskrit), to find the extraordinary within our ordinary everyday life. When I watch my two-year old grandson Otis’s eyes light up over a rain puddle in the street, I am immediately both amused and brought back to this moment.
Sweet Otis, those eyes!
I’ve just returned from leading the Tasting Gratitude yoga retreat in Umbria, Italy. I have brought back such a deeper appreciation for how simply being present to what is enhances any experience. Lex Ulibarri, our host, tour guide, yoga teacher, friend and more, has lived in Italy for nine years and speaks fluent Italian. He gave us an insider’s view of life in the Italian countryside and each site on our day trips, conveying both a historical knowledge and a spiritual perspective of the many places we visited. Being in the moment was never so easy!! Everyone had such a great experience, we are planning on doing it again in October, 2019!
-
- Me in meditation
-
- Lex, me, John
-
- Beauty everywhere
-
- The window of our room
-
- On the bus!
-
- Our group
-
- Our group
But until then, Maria Hamburger, my close friend and colleague for many years, and I will be leading our annual Jamaica Yoga Vacation on the cliffs of Negril from January 27 to February 3, 2018. This will be our third year teaching together and it is a continuing joy to infuse our love for Yoga to our students. You can download the brochure and registration form HERE. In the dead of Winter here in the USA, there’s nothing like loving the present moment with turquoise waters and warm breezes in Jamaica!
In April, as Spring returns again, I will have the great pleasure of teaching with another of my dear friends and master yoga teacher, Betsey Downing, at Kripalu for a Mini-Spirited Women’s Retreat for women over 45. The dates are April 15-18. To register, call Kripalu Center at 1-800-741-7353 or 413-448-3400. More information is available HERE.
Summer will bring us to the ocean shores of North Carolina at Trinity Retreat Center for Betsey’s and my 12th Spirited Women’s Retreat. The dates are August 21-26 and we are so looking forward to presenting The Divine Feminine Arises. In these tumultuous times we have an opportunity to stand up and speak up from our full presence as the embodied Divine Feminine and fight for the heart of what matters. It was so inspiring and empowering to see that manifesting in the number of women recently elected to statewide positions across the country. Brochure and registration form are both HERE and HERE.
I hope you can make it to one or more of these offerings. And though they are in the future, and certainly something to look forward to, I invite you to stay right here, right now, as this is where life happens. This is where wonder, astonishment, awe and amazement happen, right under our very noses. Adbhuta! All we have to do is to notice!
Blessings & Namaste,
Suzie
