Hello All.  Well, I’m on the first part of this travel leg visiting a dear friend in Santa Barbara whose husband recently died.  My goal is to help her anyway I can with kids, house, work and life.  I arrived and we talked at length.  She is crazed in dealing with family, estate issues and her late husbands many businesses leaving little time to process this whole event and no time for her SELF.  So, first on my wellness agenda was groceries, meals, margaritas and yoga in that order.  We had some great meals with her children, drank some stiff margaritas, laughed, cried and just reconnected.

Next on our list is yoga every morning at the Santa Barbara Yoga Center.  This morning was our first class.  A level 1 with an instructor I had never taken before.  It did not matter who was going to be in front of us.  What mattered was that we made it there.  My goal is to get her grounded, centered and breathing.  Mission accomplished!  The teacher was a little weird but did his job and by doing so we were both able to “drop in”.  I appreciated just being able to stretch out and she for the first time felt a true rush of emotions.  I walked out feeling great.  She walked out feeling sad.  A feeling she had not given herself much time to deal with. 

As our week continued, yoga was our first morning priority.  After every class I again felt invigorated, appreciating the time to practice with some of my favorite instructors.  My girlfriend continued to go through a whirlwind of emotions.  As we walked out of each class on opposite ends of the yoga bliss spectrum I realized just how powerful a healing tool this practice is and how personal it is for each person.  For someone suffering a huge loss and busily pushing away her sorrow through endless tasks, meetings and lists of “to do’s”, yoga was the only thing that could bring her down, settle her mind and let her heart express its pain. 

By the end of the week my friend seemed to be feeling a little better.  All of her “to do’s” were getting done, her appetite was back, she was looking forward to yoga everyday and had much more energy despite the continued emotional rollercoaster during and after each class. 

It was time for me to go and now my emotions were going awry.  Was she going to be ok?  Would she keep doing her yoga?  Who is going to make them breakfast every morning?  I still worry and keep her and her family in my thoughts and prayers.  Life throws us a curveball every so often.  Since life is short and we never really know when our ticket comes up, take a few precious moments each day and appreciate yourself, your life and always tell the people you care about that you love them. 

Namaste’