This week I was on staycation. My girlfriend Uma told me that hip, cool name for a vacation where one stays at home and how there was a special on NPR about how healthy they are for us. At the beginning of my staycation week, I had a list of all the things I wanted to accomplish during this break- doing my taxes, cleaning out my closet, my car, etc- then mid week I thought hold on there cowgirl, this is about nondoing, undoing and R and R. I did not cross off everything on my list, but it was glorious. This morning my husband and I both woke at 5 am. He walked the dogs and began to meditate as I sat on the couch in front of the fire and had not one, but two cups of steaming chai. Most mornings I teach, sometimes at 6 am, so I practice asana and teach in the am and sit for meditation in the afternoons. As my husband left to go surfing, I began my dance with prana shakti via yoga asana and pranayama. My husband returned about 9 am to hurry off to work just as I was in the middle of a 45 minute practice of yoga nidra, yogic sleep. Later, I sat for an hour of meditation. In the afternoon, the dogs and I explored a new route for our afternoon walk and after, we sat in the backyard sunning ourselves and watching birds bathe themselves in our new bird bath. As I planned my yoga class for tomorrow morning, the most amazing fragrance drifted my way. We have a baby orchid tree and this year is its first year of really blooming like crazy and the fragrance I was enjoying was emanating from this beautiful tree. I never even knew orchid trees were fragrant until today.This entry sounds a bit twitter like, recounting the achingly mundane blow by blow of my day, but there is a point. This week filled me up. I am nourished, my tank is full and I am ready now to be of service tomorrow as I teach yoga. Doing nothing was really something.....
This is why we meditate in a place where there is very little activity- just the simple natural motion of the trees in the breeze and occasionally the calls of some birds. In our ashrams we plant flowers. All this is to help calm the mind.
Swami Vishnu Devananda
