bittersweetness is...

...Yoga Vida 707 closing...getting to practice one last time in that beautiful room (the pictures in this post are taken from that room) with Deralyn, Katie, Vic, Bekah, and Dean (some of my favorite teachers)...all of the wonderful memories I have in there with Amy, Lisa, Malia, and Joan (who was also there tonight). It was an emotional night. Gratitude and love all around. Downward dogs and pigeons and warriors and wheels and trees and eagles and inversions and boats, too.
Dean started us off with Donna Summer's "Last Dance" which just about undid me. I don't know why. I think there's just a lot of change going on within and around me right now and Yoga Vida 707 closing its doors is just one more example of it. It felt in some way like a chapter of my life was closing. The chapter of early morning yoga classes where sometimes it was just Amy and me with Deralyn to guide us. The chapter of 5:30 p.m. yoga classes on Sunday afternoons with Lisa. The chapter where I got brave enough to do a headstand (against the wall!) and to flow up into wheel. Where pigeon became something that I embraced rather than fought. Where I was reminded of why, even after years of not practicing consistently, I return to yoga. Time and time again.
And it was a place where the circle did not get even begin to close with a lot things. Emotions. Aspirations. Challenges. And mantras. 707 is a place where crow still eludes me...most of the time. Where I dream of doing a headstand without the wall. Where I dream of flipping my dog into wheel. Where I dream of floor bow being a flow and not a fight. Where I dream of being more graceful and balanced and grounded.
I'll carry those dreams to Yoga Vida Westlake with me. It's just a few miles away and, for me, well worth the trip.
Because I think that is the other thing that tonight...and a viewing of YogaWoman last week...showed me - that I am committed to this practice. Not because it replaces anything else that I do but because it adds to everything else that I do. I have an ambition to eventually practice yoga daily - even if it's just a few poses in my home by myself upon rising or before going to bed. For now, it's enough to continue to learn and grow, to surrender and stop struggling, to take risks and become stronger...from within and without...on my mat.
Thank you, Yoga Vida 707, for being the space in which that journey really began...