Welcome back to my Healing Motion Blog. If you read last week’s Healing Motion Blog please scroll down to the Chapter 4 excerpt. If you’re new to my Blog, please enjoy the full page:
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 from Chapter Four, My Guru, from Apple In My Truck, A Pathway to Inner Peace.
Chapter 4 Excerpt:
Peter and I had slept soundly our first night in California while Gus was within our arms’ reach. As we woke, we witnessed the first ray of daylight shimmering beneath the bottom of the curtain. I made coffee and headed out back where Gus’s attention was caught by a free-spirited squirrel with a talent for walking the telephone line. We had worked with Gus a great deal to stay by our sides without a leash, but watching him subtly salivate told us he may have preferred the juicy squirrel for breakfast over dry kibbles.
After breakfast, Peter was now free to roam around with Gus. I kissed Peter and Gus goodbye for the day, telling them to, “Enjoy!” Turning, I walked down the familiar tree-lined sidewalk which led me to Breath Yoga Studio.
When I arrived and walked inside, I felt a wave of fear creep up inside me. While I turned towards a wall pretending to admire the hanging art featuring a yogi on a beach of crashing waves, I reflected on whether returning to a yoga practice would re-injure my now-healed back. I deeply feared becoming a dependent prisoner once again, and felt suddenly compelled to drop the yoga workshop altogether. As soon as I decided to do so, my body relaxed a bit. I approached the seaside studio’s front desk and addressed the woman seated there, who was reading a book.
“Hello. I had originally signed up for the weekend Yoga Teacher Training workshop, but due to re-injuring my back a few months ago, I need to cancel my space for this yoga workshop.”
She informed me that I could still participate in the Yoga Teacher Training workshop as an observer. Merely observing didn’t appeal to me, however. I was looking for an opportunity to move my body in a healing way without over-taxing myself.
“Do you have any gentle yoga classes I could take while I am here?”
She looked at the schedule, “The only class we have available is a Breath-Based Movement Yoga class. The teacher is Bruce.” She pointed to the classroom. I need to move my body carefully so it can continue on its vital healing path. Through a maze of wooden bookshelves lined with yogic literature, I made my way to the door and gently stepped inside. The teacher was there to greet me. “Namaste.” I returned his greeting and explained my concerns to Bruce, how I feared my practicing yoga again might trigger a relapse of the pain and muscle tightness I had experienced after my recent back injury.
“You’ve come to the right class,” he reassured me. As other students made their way into the peaceful room, Bruce took his seat up front. He began the class with a centering breathing technique, then moved into a gentle warm up. As we moved into a deep lunge, Bruce said, “Curl your back toes under and lift your left knee off the floor. Feel the beauty in the power of your strength.” With calm breathing, he held us in this asana for ten breaths. I noticed that my body was warm, had no pain, and felt strong.
Later during the class, he played soothing music on his flute as we students rested in savasana (corpse pose). That moment was more than magical for me. When class ended, I asked Bruce to tell me more about this type of yoga he guided.
“This breath-based yoga will help you to release past traumas, create a balanced lifestyle, and connect to your Spirit.” He also told me about the woman who designed this system of yoga and how I could pursue studying it if I chose to.
Afterward, Peter and Gus found me out in front of the studio. We went for a long walk beside the beach, enjoying watching people skating, running, and walking. For a moment I was mesmerized by a few acrobats on a beachside playground. I was captivated by the many different ways a person could move their body. I paused to take in the moment as we sat near a pier enjoying a seafood lunch, and afterward pulled out my camera and asked a passerby to take our photo. A seagull landed next to us on a railing. I wondered if maybe it was Mom, letting me know that she was doing just fine in her afterlife.
The next morning as we walked to breakfast, a man made me smile as he rode past us on a bicycle, wearing a wetsuit and hauling a surfboard. Everyone and everything is my Guru.
____
I hope you enjoyed this short sample of Apple In My Truck, A Pathway to Inner Peace.
Stay tuned, as next week I”ll bring you another brief excerpt from my upcoming memoir.
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 <3
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