Deep Blue Yoga

We began our September California trip in a large, rented house with a view of Lake Tahoe. Four best girlfriends and their families shared the house, with laughter starting upon arrival and providing a backdrop for the entire Labor Day weekend.

The four dads bonded and talked tech, and the seven children played dolls, swung in the porch swing, played in the sand, made God's eyes from sticks, rode bicycles down the hill, and ate pancakes, watermelon, and shaved ice.

During all of the energy, love, emotions and laughter, we found an oasis of stillness. We took our yoga mats up to the large deck with a view of the deep blue lake surrounded by the deepest royal blue sky. Side by side, led by Amy through a slow, fluid series of stretches, asanas and sun salutations, we melted our bodies and souls into a moving yoga flow.

The effect for me was profound. In triangle pose, following my arm and looking back up to the sky, I was inspired by the beauty of the healthy green pine tree loaded with pine cones reaching into blue. During sun salutations I would swing both arms up over my head, pull down the buzzing, loving energy from the universe into praying hands before my heart. The warm, yellow morning sun poured down over us. In mountain pose, I stared at the mountain crest bordering the lake and felt the permanent, unchanging solidness of God's earth. In the balancing poses, we stood still and solid high on our wooden deck, in a synchronous mid-air balance that the mountains and trees provided for us. I centered myself by staring at a tall, old tree on the lake's border, and my body was stable and strong. I was moved by the shared experience with nature and the women I love on that deck.

I am filled with gratitude for our Deep Blue Yoga.