The River in Summer Haze and Gratitude

I arise in the waning darkness and do my morning meditation, then head out to the river before embarking on my long trek to the other side of the river to sub at the studio which is my spiritual home...

I encounter a group of six gentle deer and we spend some time looking at each other very intently in the eye. I feel we are all one - there is no fear - only love...

Though I have come to the river earlier than usual, I watch an experienced kayaker instruct a "newbie" and I listen closely to what he says, mentally taking notes. In almost moments they disappear to the other side of the river, and I sit in the stillness and haze, indicating it will be very hot today...

Fish jump here and there - and the river looks like a plate of glass - and for a moment I feel myself "walk" on its surface - longingly looking towards the other side...

I give thanks for the opportunities of this day - to teach - and to start anew...

I arrive early at the studio and take the seat of the teacher in the very same room that I have been a student for over two and half years, watching my own gifted teacher take this seat... If only I could be half as good as her, and yet - I truly know that I am... Both of us share our own unique gifts...

I work with establishing a balanced action between shoulder loop and kidney loop and weave in the theme of gratitude - noting how the expression of gratitude opens the heart and how even every sorrow contains an invitation to be grateful. I find myself connecting to the students and they respond with beautiful yoga...

I am grateful for the opportunity to teach in this - my spiritual home - and to give back just a little of what I have received in terms of nourishment and support...

At the end of a class a student shares that it is her 50th birthday, and that this class was a wonderful way to celebrate that milestone... Another thanks me for teaching today...

I drive home - leaving one studio - and going out to check on another - movers arriving shortly to move equipment and I think of myself seamlessly dancing between two spiritual homes - the one where I receive and the one where I will give - and I am grateful for both, mindful of Meister Eckhart, the German medieval mystic who wrote:

"If the only prayer you ever say is 'thank you,' it will be enough."

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