On the drive home from yoga the sky was a gorgeous contradiction of vivid color with the setting sun sliding into dusk. Would I have noticed this spectacular act of nature if I had not been flowing over with awareness from the relaxed yet energized yoga I had just experienced? Maybe, maybe not. It is about taking the time, taking the moment in which we are in to enjoy the beauty that surrounds us always. The beauty is there we just have to notice it, to open ourselves to the beauty, to ourselves, to life, to live, to the world; to live our life passionately.

Yoga opens me. The experience of it opens me to possibilities, boundless, limitless life that is meant to be fully lived, completely aware, and completely happy.

Surrender.

We breath into the parts of our body that are tense, bringing breath to those areas, giving those areas light, warmth, then to loosen. Our teacher said this evening to surrender into the posture. Don't endure it, to really let go and feel it. Those words resonate in me. To me that used to be a contradiction. How can I feel it, surrender to it, yet not endure it if there is a challenge? The aha moment this evening was to just let it be just as it is. The particular moment we are in is perfect just as it is. This "it" can be anything in life.

I am coming to realize, with experience, doing yoga is not just about the postures, but the coming together, from perceived fragmentation to wholeness.

Bars filled with
Mists of smoke
And mirrors all
A mirage, a facade
To mask and hide
The real person;
Can never find solace there

The temperature has dropped considerably here. For the first time I sense fall around the corner. Some of the leaves have started to turn yellow, along with cooler temperatures, which all signal autumn. I love the fall season, it is my favorite time of year. The world takes on a vibrancy with colors and a crisp chill that is in the air. The brilliant fiery colors of the leaves and foliage speak of their true nature in this world. All of this combined makes me feel awakened, alive with new ideas, all of my senses more in tune to everything in life. The smells of nature become sharper in fall; the clear blue sky, which can only be described as azure or sapphire is gorgeous. The whole world beautiful, cooling down after a sweltering summer. I realize now it is still a bit early for fall, but there are signs telling us it is on it's way and this makes me very happy.

Yoga on Monday was wonderful! I gently twisted into positions that I never thought I could get into, was focused and concentrated which took me out of my everyday thinking, leaving the chaos of the mind behind. There was a centering meditation time, which focused on our breathing, at the beginning of the class. The instructor presented the class with the intention of gratitude, she brought our focus back several times to the intention set at the beginning of class. Then we did postures for 45 minutes. Then at the end there was another centering time where we focused our concentration on breathing consciously. I didn't think it was possible but at the end I was both energized but relaxed also. Instead of my breathing being an ignored reflex it became a connecting point of awareness, life, vitality, making the full circle back to gratitude. I still can not express completely, fully, appropriately this experience because it was so very different from my own unstructured practice by myself. Was it group dynamics and energies working together; being so focused, centered, aware; the body, mind, consciousness/soul connection; or all of these things combined that made me feel so wonderful?

Tomorrow evening I start my first yoga class. I have been interested in yoga for years, practicing on my own and with videos, but this will be my first structured class. I am very excited but also nervous about it. Checking out and participating in a structured yoga class was a goal I set for myself at the beginning of 2008. I have spent all this time researching and looking for a class that I thought I could get the most from and learn the most. It is Pranakriya yoga that focuses on breathing while in the postures, promotes relaxation and will help to deal with everyday stresses. I think that all yoga would have these benefits but this type spoke to me and what I am looking for in a class. I can't wait and I am so looking forward to it!

Last week there were storms almost daily. We definitely needed the rain, so that was a welcome sight. I love storms; nature's power and beauty are phenominal. I find most of my inspiration from and in nature; the weather inspired this poem:

Overhang of clouds
Grey and dismal
A foreboding of the
Late summer
Storm to come;
Flashes of light
Reveal the pink
Under belly of sky
Before scissor sharp
White lightning
Streaks across a
Starless night
Crashes of thunder
Rumbles,
Echoes in the distance