I have been teaching yoga for 26 years. This is a journey that is continuously unfolding. This reminds me of a comment my teacher made about the facilities of the Ashram she lives in. She said how everything looked great but there was also room for improvement. As far as the facilities go, she said this was a good sign. To me this meant that the community was still thriving and growing.

My teacher once said that little things can add up to something significant. This teaching was accompanied by a picture of a dry leaf falling down from a tree. At the time I thought it was a nice teaching but did not know what else to do with it. Months later during the fall season, I was riding on a bus and struggling to figure out how to make a living in New York City. As the bus passed by a park I noticed dry leaves falling from the trees creating large piles all over. In that moment, I remembered the teaching and also realized how I had been so focused on getting big work projects only. After that I started taking on as many little projects as I could and eventually they added up. 

A few years ago, I was in Aspen, Colorado and decided to see the Maroon Bells Peaks in the White River National Forest. This is one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen. As I walked into the park I paused. The Maroon Bells rose in the background and I saw their clear reflection on the lake below. The reflection seemed to quiver every time the wind would gently move across the lake, creating subtle ripples on its surface. The Aspen groves were scattered at the base of the peaks and yellow flowers were peppered here and there among them. It was breathtaking.

As we start the summer, the Sanskrit word śrī kept coming up in my mind. This is a very nuanced short word. I usually translate it as auspiciousness but like a diamond it has many more  facets of meaning. 

"Everything is already contained within us." This statement rubbed me the wrong way because that was not my experience. If this was true, why was it not  accessible to me. Observing that friction closely helped me realize that I was expecting things to appear out of thin air. But nothing actually happens in this way. There are many things that have to occur to bring something into being. 

When I started teaching I noticed that it was difficult to remember the names of people to the point that it was becoming a problem. This recognition started a process of letting go of the belief that I could not remember names and observing what was happening internally around this tendency. After years of practice, I was able to unravel this tendency to the point that it is no longer a problem.