Monday, August 24, 2015

Just when I thought I lost myself, I went Full Circle

This summer has made me crazy!!!  I think you all have gotten that from me if you know me and read along. I work hard physically and mentally; the weather issues get me agitated, and life stuff.  All I want to do is escape, fly away, and stop everything at times.  You know what I mean?  Throw the towel in and live on an island.  Now I know that isn’t the answer but at least I am honest about it.  So here is a story on how I flew away to escape and came “full circle” to find my self again.
Journal entry from August 21, 2015
So grateful to be able to come back again and again to Venice Beach, CA and it always feels the same, HOME.  I had a few hours to spend alone so I drove around the neighborhood I used to live in and visited all my favorite little places to shop and eat and ended up on Rose Ave at Cervateca, a fabulous outdoor dining café.  I ate exquisite Peruvian ceviche and a glass of Malbec wine.  In an hour or so I was going to one of my favorite activities to do only in Venice Beach, ecstatic dance with a DJ.  This is what got me into yoga in the first place, dancing and moving for freedom of expression.  I had found my soul again!
My friend and teacher Julian Walker has these movements every week, as I follow him via newsletters etc., as a lifeline to my “people”.  So walking down the street from the café towards the address listed for the event I notice the familiarity and proximity to a place I thought I would never return to.  And there it was!  The Hare Krishna Temple, now redone and new!
The memories flooded through me, good and bad and indifferent.  This was my place of education, yoga, life, stereotypes broken, and eyes wide open.  I started my first teacher training in 2007 with Shiva Rea at Exhale Venice Beach.  Shiva had her students congregate at the temple every day for about 3-4 hours to go over materials and practice teaching with one another.  I thought it was the most disgusting place I had ever been in at the time. 
The floor was filthy, roaches and ants, trash and food in the corners and dirty Hare Krishna’s walking around like they had never seen a shower or laundry machine.  It was fucking disgusting so I went across the street on the 2nd day of 10 days of training and bought Lysol and antibacterial lotion.  I would spray myself down in a spiral of disinfectant, all my items and mat after each visit.  People thought I was crazy.  I thought they were crazy for lying on the floor, face down practicing cobra pose!  My hope was to NEVER return again.  Well as life goes to show you, “never say never” and brings me back Full Circle, here I am again.  And the best part…it is called Full Circle.  Full Circle is a place to commune, to be free, to practice expression, art, movement, and unity.  All these things I have learned since 2007.  And out of all the places I have traveled to find it, all the time it has been right here!
I walked into the building after donating double the offering, did a face plant onto the floor and rolled all over the place.  I danced and crawled like the primal goddess that I am.  My soul was free to be and my body expressed it with such ecstatic joy.  All feelings flooded me with how life comes back “full circle”.  Life is not full of coincidences; it is full of synchronicity that makes us come FULL CIRCLE.
Namaste

                                                                                                                                   

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