The Gift of the Unexpected:: Teaching Yoga on the Grassy Knoll: August 2, 2021: Kihei, HI

I was in the right place at the right time to catch an unexpected lunch with these beauties.

If it was up to me and my "usual life", I'd be out on tour now. That's what I've expected to happen to me. For obvious reasons it hasn't happened.

And also for unobvious reasons.

Yogis say all things happen to us to wake us up. Certainly we have some say in the matter, which is why staying as conscious as possible in our decisions, behaviors, and thoughts is so important. But that’s only half the play: Yogis remind us that all realization happens not only from our actions, but also by grace (sutra 2.24).

And grace, almost by definition, isn’t obvious.

Please, please, please, don't throw the tired line all things happen for a reason. That Truth has been pounded into anyone whose stepped foot on the spiritual path. We all struggle with it. We all hate to hear that line when the going gets rough. The deeper practice implied, and frankly one , for me, easier to digest, is that the reason is for our soul benefit. Believing this, for real, requires faith. This requires trust. This requires a massive amount of practice.

I"m super grateful I get to be in Maui as these lessons land. I mean ,the truth is, this is where I want to be. And sharing yoga is what i really want to be doing with my time here on Earth. And yet still I am struggling, and morphing, and growing and learning. (And somedays I just binge-watch The Crown). I practice and I trust while this wild ride of life brings her obvious stress into daily life, Yet also, there are great moments of relief , unobvious grace , if you will, when I practice, and when I hang out with friends, and when I hug my little maltese Star.

Here's our practice today:

Standing breath sweeps
Tadasana with side stretch
Shoulder shrugs and rolls
Uttanasana with shoulder stretch
Bouncing tadasana
Tadasana

Downdog
Warrior I
Locust
Warrior I
Downdog

Low lunge-hanumanasana vinyasa
Twisted lunge
Warrior II dance
Side angle pose
Extended trikonasana
Trikonasana with arm variation
Warrior II

Cobra
Downdog

Pigeon
Seated twist
Baby Grasshopper
Eka pada bhujasana

windshield wiper
twisted root
savasana

sit
Namaste