Light At The End Of The Chandalier with Kimberlee at Yoga Loka: Reno, Nevada: July 24, 2018
Two master electricians, one general contractor, one remodeling yogini, 115 pieces of hand blown glass all coming together to make one epic chandalier.
I've been carting around two huge boxes that house 115 pieces of hand blown glass since I left Reno in 2006. They sat in Ojai, California for 8 years, moved to storage in Carson City for three years and here we are back in Reno and she's ready to become what she is. A chandelier.
This feels similar to my journey. I sat in Ojai for eight years learning how to meditate and practice yoga. I shelved my career to be a part of touring while in Carson, and now back in Reno it feels like its time to shift into my purpose and essence. I want to transform all these pieces of learning, of yoga, teaching, relationship, travel, writing, blogging, music, friends, community into a shining light. What's required, like my chandelier, is to come out of hiding in a box. To allow myself to open, transform and sparkle.
Yogis would say that Shiva would be a helpful. Shiva is the Hindu god, often associated with destruction, but my teacher Ravi Ravindra emphasizes Shiva as the god of transformation.. The practices of yoga are here to help us transform to our highest potential, as it says in the yoga sutras (PYS 2.2), for dissolving the mental coverings to Light. In Downdog to Roaddog parlance, "to loosen the tight spots".
Today in practice Kimberlee offered movement, breath, meditation and the chanting of Mahamrityunjaya Mantra. One of the translations of mantra is "mind protection", meaning protection of our own minds from the dark. This mantra, in particular, evokes Shiva and is rumored to be one of the most powerful of all mantras. After moving and breathing and chanting for an hour, sitting in stillness revealed that the powerful energy of transformation is always there to tap into . But even more stunning is the realization that light is always there. It's not transforming into the light, is making changes to let go of anything that blocks her.
Once, and not a too far distant memory, I thought I'd never get to the other side of this remodel. Getting to such fine details as light fixtures means we are getting to the end of the dark remodel tunnel. I get to hang a new light in my house today, a light that's been mine for a long time but only now is only coming in to magnificent view.
Health, Love, and Rock N Roll