Tadasana - Coming Home

​As much as I cherish the spaciousness of long summer days and the excitement of summer adventures, there’s such a sweetness when Fall is in the air. Returning from vacations and getting back to routines feels like coming home, our theme for September. 
 
My last trip of the summer was to take my youngest to college for her freshman year, so returning home at the end of summer was an entirely new experience. While on campus, I learned a new term from some wise parents who were veterans of this chapter of life; they called it spacious nesting. The minute I heard the term, something shifted. Rather than the dread of anticipated grief, a curiosity stirred in me. It’s interesting that our theme at Dayaalu for the summer was akasha or space, as if this was a premonition preparing me for this tectonic shift in our lives.  
 
If there is one word to describe the experience of sending our last child off to college, much to my surprise it is spaciousness. Our home, our days, my marriage and mostly my heart feels open and expansive. All this space has made it possible to feel the stew of emotions that surface: grief, excitement, loss and mostly love. I know that my practice of yoga and meditation has made it possible to be in the present moment with this shift. 
 
Everything in my life feels completely new and yet paradoxically familiar at the same time, reminding me of the possibility of embodying these extremes in our daily yoga practice. This month we are focusing on tadasana or mountain pose, the standing posture that begins and ends the sun salutation, the pose we come home to. In this pose we stand with feet rooted to the earth, crown reaching for the sky and hands resting on the heart. Though it’s a pose we do many times in each yoga class, I am amazed how breath and intention can help me discover spaciousness and alignment with the possibility of feeling new every time. 
 
It is such a wonder to get to observe the way these practices help us come home in our bodies and create space in our hearts to be present for life.  This month we have an amazing selection of class, workshops and events that give you an opportunity to come home to body and soul. We’re looking forward to seeing you!!
 
Much love,
Sue
 

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