......rain

Yogis,

I have been in Vancouver British Columbia for a week now, attending a fifty-hour Yin Yoga teacher certification course.  If you know anything about the northern Pacific coast you will quickly realize that I have spent the last seven days in the rain.  

Walking alone in the early morning along the water’s edge to class in my raincoat. Gray skies and the sound of the rain as it hits my hood. Frequent bursts of heavier rain which cause me to grab for the umbrella in my backpack. Puddles beneath my feet, raindrops hanging on the studio windows as we practice and clouds hugging the mountains in the distance.  Falling asleep each night to the patter of rain on the roof overhead.  Perfect seagull weather………

The first few days I hurried along, looking for overhangs and checking my phone to see the best times to head outside. Uncomfortable as I tried to avoid the raindrops. But as the week wore on I felt a shift.

I noticed that here life continues in the rain. Runners, bikers and moms with strollers are unbothered by the damp cool air. With rain boots on they move through their day not only with ease, but with joy.  Someone told me they can tell the tourists and newcomers by who holds an umbrella. What is it about rain that always makes me run?

How perfect that I would be in this place for Yin training. In yin yoga you come into a pose and find an edge.  That place where you begin to feel something. Then you stay. For a while. Through any discomfort, distracting thoughts and welling of emotions. Learning to be ok with whatever passes through. Yin is the energy of life that allows.  The watery, cool, deep, hidden, slow, moist, receptive parts of ourselves that often aren’t nourished in this go, go go fiery yang lifestyle we all live.

As I marinated in the poses to embrace sensations, I also embraced the weather. The umbrella began to remain in the backpack and I slowed down to soak in this new climate.  Noticing how quiet it is when it rains. Voices are lower, while the geese, ducks and seagulls provide the background serenade. My skin moistening as the days passed, and as for my hair, well that’s what ponytails are for!

In yin there is a pose named Shoelace that I have always viewed, like rain, as a nuisance. Something to resist as it tugged on my outer hips. I would contract and hurry to get away.  As I leaned forward toward Shoelace I heard the goose fly overhead and it reminded me.  It reminded me to allow. To feel what I was feeling fully because that is the gift of being in this human body.

My last full day it wasn’t raining as I woke. The locals were ecstatic over the peeks of sun but somehow I felt a little disappointment. Imagine my glee when a raindrop hit my eye on the way to dinner. By the walk home along the water the rain was once again steady, and I had left the umbrella home. Thank goodness.

This week I softened into the pose and into the rain…..going toward.

‘Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.’
               ~Bob Marley

Wanting to feel it all,
SARAH