Blessings to Boulder and Welcome to the Bay area

The Harmonium filled the air with tunes accompanying Richards beautiful chant in Sanskrit.
We were brought back to life with the sound s of a singing bowl, deep, smooth and vibrating. Slowly coming out Savasana (the corpse pose, or final relaxation) we sat up, and stayed still for a moment, then, bowing with gratitude, to the teacher, fellow practitioners, to us for showing up, and to all beings.

The class seems to float out of the room. I look into friend’s eyes and realize, this is one of those moments where the whole class experienced something beyond words. A glow, a softness, seems like everyone was on drugs, a kind of joy that makes one want to smile for no reason, to do nothing and just appreciate the moment.

The following day, we met in the park to celebrate the end of the teacher’s intensive.
40 beautiful people from around the world, a moment ago strangers, now feeling a sweet connection, a knowing, a shared experience. Richard and Mary, our teachers for the month are now standing together, with two sweet smiles they have set a beautiful example.
Richard Freeman is a long time student of Yoga, a long time teacher, a dedicated practitioner, an amazing chanter, a source of inspiration and beautiful example of a true teacher.
Mary the compassionate bodhisattva, the one that ran the show behind the scene, the mother of us all, the care taker and the teacher, humble and shining, was there as the complimentary piece to Richard.
Beyond them as teachers it is an inspiration to see them as a couple. Like Fi said (more or less) “makes me want to grow old with someone”.

Apart from the Yoga, meditation and philosophy this past month was more than anything a month of gratitude towards people. Sharing the house with Fiona, Tony, Ross, and Marcus, with whom I’ve shared the same room, was such a unique experience. Each person filled with an amazing life story, many in transition (lots of ex high tech in the air), generous beings that are truly open to see what else is out there.
The evening walks to get food, the endless exploration of a pose and its alignment, philosophical discussions, traditionalism, food, nutrition, music, Californication (the TV series) nights, Fi’s famous south walnut Banana bread…

Boulder itself, the beautiful town that shared with me it’s running waters everywhere, its green, the nice little homes and the quaint city center has become a real home for this time.
Instead of skyscrapers as a backdrop, the mountains surrounding it let huge rock formations reach up in a beautiful carving. The parks, the outdoorsy feel, the bronze sculptures around town, the small rock gardens for children to play, fountains and live music on the promenade, lively bars next door to family restaurant, healthy café’s next to the Prana shop or Billabong, make the unique setting for this pretty homogenous town.
A mostly white town surrounded by cowboy country out side.

Denise the performer, the contortionist, the heart Yoga teacher, a dear friend (which one are you Denise?) drove me to the nice Denver airport, where after a coffee (for nostalgic NY reasons), I departed on my return flight to San Jose where Kelly picked me up. There is nothing like a loving familiar face when coming out of the airport. We drove to downtown Palo Alto and entered the fabulous Stanford theatre (showing movies since 1925), watched The Animal Crackers with the Marx Brothers from 1930, ate old-fashioned popcorn, and laughed out loud.
I shall be staying at Gil and Debbie’s place for a few days till the calming news about the Big Sur fire arrives. Seems like it's getting closer to closure.
So sweet to have family around, makes all the difference in the world.

Yoga with Richard Freeman

June 8th, Sunday morning, my birthday, sitting at the Yoga Workshop, Richards’s shala (practice room). The simple room, one large space is full of new faces sitting on Yoga mats awaiting the beginning of this month long teacher intensive.

Mary, Richard’s wife, gives a briefing on this coming month and before we know it Richard walks in. The room fills with a feeling of something great that just happened. Richard enters, great and simple, starts without too much talking.
Our mornings, which consist of some Asana (poses) practice, learning about alignment, adjustments, breathe and gaze, are followed by chanting and philosophy.
In the afternoons I take a Mysore style class, optional to the program.

The group is very international. Students from Greater China, Japan, Europe, NY, CA, Mexico, Canada and locals from boulder all unified with a set sequence of poses practiced daily around the globe. (The Ashtanga sequence)

Richard, calmly sits on his cushion, with clear eyes, guides us through the
Sanskrit pronunciation. Richard seems to have child like qualities, of love and excitement toward the little details.

Yesterday afternoon we walked over to the Shamabhala center to practice meditation.
I manage to walk everywhere here, such a wonderful feeling. Just take Pearl Street down one direction, and you hit a beautiful promenade, of downtown Boulder. The other direction will take you to a big shopping area including Whole Foods and the Mac store.
Walking along perfect sidewalks with green patches, brooks follow aside or cross under, and the Flat Irons, the famous Boulder Mountains rise up with pride, and together with the dramatic sky, frame the small population of Boulder (100,000 or so). A population that seems healthy and active for the most part. A very outdoorsy feeling, a college town, a town of yoga, massage, Rolfing, meditation and centers and Universities of alternative lifestyles.

I continue my tradition of constant summer that has been flowing through my life for over a year now. Here, the sun shines most of the time. Occasional winds or some threat of rain appear, but in general, it’s dry and beautiful, and my tan is still chocolaty or olive skin (is it really olive? Where does that come from?).
Happy to be here, to keep on studying and living life to it’s fullest. New ideas for workshops arise, and I hope to present them soon.