Here I've been back home in Seattle for two whole weeks, with nary a posting about my Hawaii trip. It was, as you may imagine, wonderful. For those of you who don't know, I attended a 10-day Esoteric Yoga Retreat on the Big Island with my teachers, Aadil Palkhivala and Mirra. Esoteric refers to the "hidden" or more subtle aspects of yoga. Our work was to open the body with asana and pranayama so that meditation would be not only more comfortable, but more effective, as well. This helps put the eight limbs of yoga into perspective, as asana's purpose is to care for and strengthen the body so that one can practice pranayama and meditate.
Mornings were dedicated to 2 - 3 hours of asana and/or pranayama practice with Aadil. Every day was different, and delightful. Sometimes I didn't participate in all of the things the class did, choosing alternative poses instead (because I didn't know if I was pregnant or not, and some of the stuff was too warming for early pregnancy). Aadil is a master at including everyone in the class, even those of us who (for any number of reasons) need alternative poses. It was really fun to experience Aadil's teaching outside of the college, to be an asana student rather than a teacher training student, and to get so much time with him!
The retreat center served us local, organic, vegetarian lunches and dinners (which, even as a dedicated "foodie", I would recommend to the hungriest of carnivores). After the first day, we began to take our meals in silence. This was done so that we could truly experience the meal, rather than being distracted by talk. Eating should be done with the whole person (mind, body, and spirit), but often we get into the habit of doing other things while we eat, such as watch TV, listen to the radio, read, or talk nonstop. Of course, I enjoy conversation at the dinner table, but I learned that balancing it with true attention to what and how I was eating creates a very different experience. Meals became an opportunity to explore eating in a new way, and for that I am very grateful.
After lunch we had a break of a couple of hours. There was a (reportedly) beautiful waterfall on the property, but I kept putting off hiking down to it, and each day I thought I might go - it rained. That was okay, though, because we had a waterfall on the property I rented, so I was pretty satisfied. My housemates and I often took the break time to go back home and have a nap, or to go to the Hilo farmers' market.
Break time was followed by afternoon meditation with Mirra. This meditation is all about opening the heart center and living from its wisdom, love and peace. While anyone can learn to do it, I won't kid you by saying it's easy. Many of us (myself included) have spent a number of years building up defenses and walls around our hearts. We operate under the mistaken understanding that the heart is tender, and needs to be protected. In reality, what often hurts is our pride and ego, not our heart. In yoga, we consider the heart - or heart center (the 4th chakra) - the home of the soul in the physical body. Learning to transition from a very mentally-focused existence, or a very ego-driven one, to a heart-centered life can be challenging, but it is always rewarding. So, meditation was a very powerful, and for me transformational, aspect of the retreat.
We dined after meditation and then a couple of nights had community time, Yoga Nidra, and at the end of the retreat a wonderful Hawaiian cultural presentation of hula. It was a beautiful experience, and one that I would recommend to anyone. There were a couple of people who had almost no yoga experience, but they, too, had very satisfying, perspective-changing experiences while on retreat.
Tomorrow I'll try to post some photos of the retreat center, and I'll tell you about the fun I had with my housemates!



