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Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, United States
Karen is a yogini, writer, student, teacher and meditator. She founded Garden Street School of Yoga in 2000. Karen lives with her husband Chris. They have two amazing sons, Eli and Leo (both of them young men).

Jan 17, 2010

"One touch of nature makes all the world kin"

I seem to be on a once a week posting schedule these days. It is funny - 2 years ago I did not even have a blog and now I feel guilty that I have only been posting once a week. Well....guilt is more grist for the mill I guess.

Last week we had Immersion III here in Coeur d'Alene. A veritable river of radiance (in the form of human beings) gathered from Montana, Idaho, Canada and even Korea. Especially sweet for me was that we had several of the Boise Kula come up here -- Annie and Tamara and Tim and Brittany. So for one full week we Immersed ourselves. We studied Philosophy, Asana, Pranayama, Anatomy, Alignment and Tantric cosmology. And more.

We had rich and deep discussions of the connection and inclusiveness that Yoga and Tantra attempt in relation to every other system - Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Science, Politics (democrats and republicans alike). And, honestly, in the Immersion format we do have people from ALL of those backgrounds. The tapestry is so RICH, as long as we stay in Yoga and in communication. How do we do that? By being in "warm hand to warm hand" connection....... eye to eye, heart to heart, practicing together. William Shakespeare put it this way: "One touch of nature makes all the world kin".

On Friday night, we had dinner together. I prepared it and served it up in my witch's cauldron. I'm serious - I do have a cauldron in which I serve soup to the Immersion groups.

We ate together after we joined in a circle, held "warm hand to warm hand", counted to 3 and shouted hallelujah! (Thank you Edith - my Tai Chi Friend - for that ritual.)

After dinner we watched the Wizard of Oz - which was ODD - so I might call it the Wizard of Odd. But it does illustrate some of the Tantric Cosmology - for example the 3 Malas (those things that obscure our true nature - our innate intelligence, our tender heart and our courage) are represented in the Lion, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man.

We also consumed a massively rich chocolate cake to celebrate Tim's birthday. He turned 36. And yes, we DID do 36 Sun Salutations on Friday morning to celebrate his birth.

So now it is onward. The week ahead is full........again. The Advanced Immersion is holding the contemplation of "Open to Grace" in tandem with the first 2 Shiva Sutras. The recently completed Immersion illustrated to me - so well - that "One touch of nature makes all the world kin." With all that richness informing the fabric of my life - I have an abundance of love - of blessing force - to oil the gears as I move this living, breathing vehicle-miracle of my embodied life forward in time and space.

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