Welcome back to my Healing Motion Blog. If you read last week’s Healing Motion Blog please scroll down to the Chapter 10 excerpt.
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I am continuing to enjoy the process of editing each chapter and flashback for my upcoming memoir, Apple In My Truck, A Pathway to Inner Peace.
Erin R Lund of Sunshine Editorial Services is currently hard at work brightening each paragraph. I am grateful to Erin for her professionalism, enthusiasm, and quick wit.
My initial editor was Angie Bihn. She had helped me to unbury my painful past while writing and editing. I have referred to Angie in previous blogs as my personal therapeutic archeologist. I am thankful to have Angie’s brilliance within the pages of Apple In My Truck.
Allow me to briefly explain my history with writing. One afternoon during elementary school recess, in 1978, my teacher kept me confined to the classroom while the other children got to play. Her reasoning was that I needed to learn how to NOT talk during the moment that she was attempting to perform the roll call duties.
My punishment was to stand in front of the chalkboard and write out, ‘I Will Not Talk In Class,’ one-hundred times. So you can imagine that I never really liked writing much when I was younger.
During 1993 through 2011 I worked in the emergency medical and fire service profession while living in Arizona. Patient documentation was a daily requirement. Therefore, while I worked for the fire service, the act of writing was never enjoyable.
However, in 2011, I discovered a Yoga Teacher Training program. It was my yoga teacher trainers who helped me to realize that yoga wasn’t only a physical practice. They’d taught me that yoga is about joining together or ‘yoking’ your mind, body and spirit. I’d learned how to connect to my higher Self mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually.
Today, I continue to practice the ancient teachings of yoga. Specially the teachings of an ancient sage known as Patanjali. He is famous for his teachings of the Yoga Sutras. The Eight-Limb Path of Yoga is embedded within the Yoga Sutras.
Svadhyaya (self-study, study of the Self, journaling) is the fourth tenant that resides underneath the second-limb or Niyamas, which inspired me to begin journaling or writing.
My yogic path of a daily Sadhana (practice) of the Eight-Limb Path of Yoga continues. I will be a forever student of yoga continually visiting the teachings of Patanjali to learn, explore and reach my own pathway to inner peace.
Below is a short excerpt of Chapter 10, Explorer, from Apple In My Truck, A Pathway to Inner Peace. ****
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After I waved goodbye to Tony Joe, I drove home. When I pulled into my garage, the time on my watch read 2200. I went inside, and as I rested my head on the safety of my own bed, memories began flooding my mind as I drifted off to sleep. It was this time last year when I had telephoned the Grand Canyon to speak to someone about my missing sleeping pad and had become suddenly inspired to plan the solo adventure I am leaving for tomorrow.
One year ago, I had joined Joni and her three friends on a camping trip down at the bottom of the canyon where we’d had great time together at the Bright Angel Campground. On that hike, we had each carried the necessary supplies for a two-day backpacking trip, and my pack had been heavy from having stowed my many comforts inside, including a tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, food, water filter, change of socks, extra water bottles and an extra-thick plastic bag to protect my supplies from rainwater. The water bladder and bottles had weighed me down the most.
The following morning when Joni had gathered her friends, Deb and John, to prepare to hike out, Deb had mentioned that she needed to take her back pack over to the mule barn at the nearby Phantom Ranch. I’d noted the mule barn the last time I had visited the ranch, but had believed their mules were only there to haul necessary supplies to and from the ranch itself. I’d had no clue that if I were to offer the mule handler cash, I could hire a mule to carry my stuff. Deb had walked up to the mule handler and offered to pay him to haul out her backpack. When she’d placed her backpack onto their large scale, I’d asked the handler what the weight limit was that a mule could be hired to carry. He’d answered, “Twenty-five pounds.”
Wow, my backpack is heavier than that, but I can lower its weight by carrying its detachable fanny-pack myself. Stepping closer, I’d informed the handler that I too had wanted to have some of my items carried out by mule. He’d obliged and directed me to place my items on the scale. After I’d detached the fanny pack and stuffed it with trail snacks and a water bottle, he’d picked up my backpack and weighed it. I’d watched the scale-reading intently: 24 pounds! Thank God. My hike out will be delightful without all that extra weight. I’d noticed my sleeping pad was still attached to the bottom of the backpack; so had he. “Ma’am, we wouldn’t want your sleeping pad to get caught up on a branch or dropped off a high cliff. Best that you detach it.” So, I’d removed the roll and handed it to him. The mule-transport fee had been twenty-five dollars, which I’d felt was money well-spent. I’d felt much more energized with a lighter load while hiking up the 9.8-mile ascent. At the top, we’d made our way over to the Bright Angel Cafe while waiting for the mule train.
After some serious grub, Deb and I had checked back at the mule barn in hopes of retrieving our backpacking gear. The Grand-Canyon employee at the barn who’d sported a large cowboy hat handed me my belongings, but hadn’t been able to find my sleeping pad. Needing to get home, I hadn’t been able to wait any longer for my missing pad, but before I’d left he’d assured me, “When we find your missing sleeping pad we’ll mail it to you.”
The following day, I’d called to speak to the cowboy at the mule barn to see if they had found it. While I’d been on hold, the recorded message had listed other fun activities to experience while at the Grand Canyon. I’d listened intently as the recorded voice directed, “If you want to stay at Phantom Ranch, please press one.” Obviously I’d been meant to hear this recording, so I’d pressed the number 1, and the next thing I’d known, I had reserved myself a female dorm room for the following year. Happily, my sleeping pad had been located as well, and had been safely mailed back to me. Now I was ready to depart on this new adventure.
The day before I reached the Grand Canyon for my solo hike, Joni and I met at a steakhouse in Flagstaff. When we walked through its front doors, both the Country music playing through its speakers, and a waitress, greeted us. “How about a seat next to the window?” We sat and chatted over glasses of wine until our dinner arrived, reminiscing for hours about the fun adventures we’d had on the many hiking trails we’d explored, both together and with other friends.
Touching the back of my neck, I noticed it felt scabby. I mentioned to Joni, “Girl, I just realized the back of my neck is really itchy and dry.”
Joni’s nursing instinct took over. She took a peek and asked, “What did you do to yourself? It looks like you have a burn on your neck.” I explained, ”Yesterday, I did a training swim at the lake in a wetsuit that was too big for me. Every time I turned my head to get a breath, it rubbed against my neck.” Joni said, “I bet that’s how you got this burn. Let’s go find a holistic store after we eat and get you a healing salve.”
Later, we teamed up and scanned the store shelves until we found an ideal salve to rub on my neck. I liked the short list of ingredients: a blend of olive oil and shea butter. First thing the following morning, Joni and I sipped our coffee as we took in some more laughs. When we were ready to part ways, we hugged and ended our visit with the same words: “Have a fun adventure!”
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I hope you enjoyed this short sample of Apple In My Truck, A Pathway To Inner Peace.
New News: Please Stay tuned, for my memoir’s, Apple In My Truck, A Pathway To Inner Peace, release date! :-)
To learn more about the Eight-Limb Path of Yoga please read my self-published fictional book, dYnO’s DaNcE, On The Eight-Limb Path.
dYnO’s DaNcE, On The Eight-Limb Path, is an imaginative tale liberally sprinkled with Patañjali’s spiritual teachings. This story offers a great pathway for you to connect with your inner child.
Find your copy online at:
Be A Flower,
Share your Beauty.
Namaste.
Alicia
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