Since I moved with my family back in January, I've been itching to find a new outdoor "Sunrise Spot". During the whole month of February my Sunrise Practice took place indoors, and as beneficial as it was to keep my practice rolling, something was missing. Catching a Sunrise from inside just isn't the same.
The natural rhythms of Earth - even in the deep winter - are the driving forces of the inspiration I receive while practicing in this way. It is not only yoga practice I am after, it is complete human experience. The Sunrise is such a significant event for all Life on this planet, and the natural world greets it every day. It has been my joy to join the natural world in the coming of the Sun.
A few days ago, while taking a woodland hike with my kids, I found a beautiful area by a stream. I returned solo a few days later for Saturday morning Sunrise Practice, and my 6am bike ride already had me in the mood - chorus’ of birds, at least two vast expanses of pasture with accompanying cattle (in Radnor Township no less), a warm humidity and slight haze. While unloading my gear streamside (yoga mat, notebook, water bottle), a fellow human strolled by. He had long, braided blond hair and a big beard. We exchanged a bit of, "Good morning, beautiful day for a walk, etc." (turns out we’re the same age!), then he asked me what I was doing with the things I brought. I told him I was getting ready for some yoga, and his face lit up, "Can you show me!?" he said like a child unable to hide his excitement. Naturally I obliged. For me, the deepest gift I can receive from my practice is the opportunity to share it.
Before I encountered this man, though rather unorthodox, I had my eye set on practicing yoga on the beautiful big rocks in the stream, as opposed to being streamside on my mat. The water was calling to me, "Get In". So I lead myself and my new friend down to the rocks. We took our footing. Then a quick mental conversation with myself rumbled through:
"Now what?
Well, I'm going to teach some yoga.
What's yoga?
Well....."
It's true that given our precarious footings, traditional yoga asanas would not do. Asking the question "what's yoga?" in this unfamiliar situation proved to be very powerful. When my friend asked to see the yoga, I briefly contemplated ditching my aqueous adventure and just sticking to traditional "on the mat" yoga. This way it would be easy for me to "teach him yoga" - I could just do the things I usually do in a class setting, guide him through some traditional asanas, etc. But how boring to basically ignore what this glorious landscape was providing us with....we had to play! So there we were, on the rocks....and that question “what’s yoga” seemed to echo for eternity. Is dancing on the rocks yoga? Can wading through the water be considered yoga? Or do we need down dog and warrior II to consider it yoga?
I chose to begin with familiarity. We assumed mountain pose, and breathed. I noticed him breathing heavy in his chest, neglectful of his belly, so I offered that he take a hand to his belly to remind him to fill that space as well. We breathed for sometime, and while I was deciding what would be next in our sequence, I was steam-rolled by the realization that his request that began all this was, “Can you show me?”. Not, “Can you teach me?”. He simply wanted to share in my Sunrise Practice, but my “I am yoga teacher” mind got the best of me and I arbitrarily assumed the roll of teacher, and declared him my student. I inserted distance between us, and it was palpable. So much so that eventually he equalized us by smiling and saying, “I’m open”, which felt like, “Don’t be shy, let’s get into this”.
With that, I shut up, turned my attention to myself and dove into my practice. He dove into his, and we shared that beautiful space. Eventually we dance/crawled from rock to rock down the stream, waded in the water, shared feelings about Life - its simplicities and complications, waded back upstream to where we started, took (small) drinks from the flowing liquid, splashed it in our faces and hair, hugged like brothers and then parted ways - each of us to enjoy our day refreshed, invigorated, and blessed by a not-so-stranger.
What a gift and a liberation. I assumed a position of superiority, and it was he who elevated me to equality. Thank you my friend.
As he headed off down the trail he jokingly said, “Next Saturday, 7am?” I’ll be there :-)
[For a picture of the spectacular location check out @dadbalance on Instagram]
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