The Sweetest Thing

I was home all by myself this weekend. As any parent- particularly the at home parent knows, a weekend alone without anyone asking, or dare I say, demanding anything of you is rare. Like a blue moon.....or a unicorn. My family was taking off to visit my parents in Martha's Vineyard and I was going to be spending my Friday and Saturday at Sage Yoga studio in Armonk, NY attending workshops given by Noah Maze.

Now I know that you are all expecting me to wax poetic about my blissful yoga weekend, the opportunity to take off for a long walk in the (hopefully...finally) spring weather, hang out with my yoga geek friends and eat brunch and drink bellinis with a girlfriend. And yes, I will do that. However, the sweetest part of my weekend alone was at the beginning when everyone was getting ready to depart.

I had spent all of Thursday home with my five year old, Max. He woke up early in the morning and proceeded to throw up everywhere in the bathroom except for the toilet. We then spent the rest of the day in bed with occasional breaks to either the bathroom or the laundry room. (I HATE stomach bugs) Friday morning I was exhausted. My husband woke me up and  asked (told) me to pack up the kids. Xander and Max asked (demanded) where various toys and animals were to take on the trip. My husband then asked (demanded) where the dry cleaning was. I explained that taking care of a sick kid was more important than getting his freaking dry cleaning (I also didn't want Max to throw up in the car). "Well that is just GREAT" he then said....I am assuming he was being sarcastic.

At this point I am ready to drop kick everyone out the door and call a locksmith. My older son yells goodbye and races to the car. My younger son looks confused. I kneel down, "What is it Boo?" He says, "Aren't you coming too?" I explain that Mommy has to work and that there is a special teacher in town from whom Mommy wants to learn. He puts his hands on my face and says, "But won't you be lonely?"

Well I wasn't going to be until this happened. This moment of absolute sweetness. The tone of his voice and the concern written all over his little face. My heart was so full it hurt.

I carried that moment for the rest of my solo weekend. It sustained me. When Noah Maze was leading us through amazing workshops with attention to details I am just beginning to process, that moment was present. It embodied the divine sweetness I reach for in my practice.

Now get a bunch of Anusara teachers and practitioners together and you have got one big herd of yoga nerds. We get excited about adjustments, breathing techniques, variations on poses we already know and love and poses that require courage and commitment. We are each others cheerleaders. It was heaven for me being in this group of wonderful people who get as excited as I do about things that make my other friends walk away from me mid-sentence. My friend Kate and I are even getting together to share notes. We get together every week to talk about this stuff, so I guess that makes us EXTRA nerdy. Another yogi, Paula Sue, asked me what notes I was taking. She has just been through the first rounds of teacher training. I explained that when I started teacher training, I tried to write to write down EVERYTHING the teacher said. I was so busy writing that I missed the sweetness of what was being said. I have notebooks full of stuff that doesn't even make a lot of sense because I was trying to copy everything down verbatim.

Now, years later when I go to a teacher of this caliber I do have my trusty notebook handy, but I only write things that resonate authentically to ME. When Noah brought us into some really deep forward bends I GOT what he was trying to convey in my brain AND my body. It was so new, yet so clear, that I wrote down some of what he said and then used it in my own class the following morning. I wasn't trying to be Noah, but his teachings were so amazing that I was able to pass them on in my own voice. There was an incredible sweetness to that, and I think everyone in the class felt it, especially in their hips.
(I did not bring a notebook to Yeah Dave)

There are these amazing moments of kindness, concern and wisdom that need to be passed on. Nobody shows up just "knowing everything". We have teachers. The love and concern my child showed me hopefully reflects the love and concern I showed him the day before when he was throwing up everywhere.

Look for and pass on sweetness. You might provide a light in someone's life without even realizing it. So thank you Noah for passing on your knowledge, and thank you Max for passing on your concern and  love.