Mind/Body Fitness

During the past few days away at a Yoga as Muse writing workshop led by Jeff Davis, author of Journey from the Center to the Page, I learned too much about the embodied mind to fit into a single, tiny blog entry.

One of the lessons that continually occurred to me there on my yoga mat, my laptop warming my quads, was the idea of gentleness.

Jeff is a warm, gentle teacher. He approaches the world as a yogi, and behaves and carries himself with the calm and poise of a yoga teacher. Which he is. RYT Davis has studied with Sri Desikachar in India as well as other schools of yoga and meditation.

When he helped me with an adjustment in an intense twist on Wednesday morning, the thought coalesced. I never want to study with a writing teacher who does not possess the gentleness of a yoga instructor. Entrusting my writing is just as sacred, just as important as entrusting the safety of my spirit or body is in a yoga class.

Author and memoirist, University of Connecticut Writer-in-Residence, Daniel Asa Rose was a special guest in this particular workshop. Rose also exuded kindness and wisdom. Yes, they were still real people, just like the other twelve attendees, we shared meals together, learned and taught one another.

I have an overriding sensation that attending this retreat will reverberate as a turning point in this part of my life. I learned that I still enjoy performing on stage, that I still have a yen for it, and that I still have the presence and talent to be able to pursue it…. I see my next great adventure beginning to take shape.