Transition

Or more like major life change.

It never fails to surprise me when I move to Madeline in June.  I've done it many times, wrapping up one life and shifting gears completely to prepare for another.  I should be used to this right? And yet, somehow I always am stumped.

This year the transition almost left me breathless. It was the marathon of things to accomplish and the finish line was never in my line of sight.  I stressed over registering kids for fall events, last minute dental appointments, and the transfer of copious amounts of food.  Every time I thought I had wrapped something up, I was adding two more things to my list.

Finally and despite the fact that our car full of kids, a dog, a cat, coolers of food, yoga supplies, and flats of flowers was full to the brim a la Griswold style, I was Madeline bound. Only to realize I still forgot very important things such as essential oils (to thwart the tick season), chocolate (seriously!) and my own yoga mat. Yikes.  And once you are on an island you are kind of SOL. I will have to live without.

At first not having the things that are so accessible in Eau Claire really bothered me.  But only for a day.  My first evening here I was greeted with one of our famous brilliant sunsets.  Almost made me forget about missing the chocolate.

The second day, I caught up with many of the people I work with on the island as I prepare for the retreat season.  I love this community and the energy that I feel when I'm here.  I can order some new essential oils on line.

And today, I was delighted to be featured in The Green Connoisseur's post entitled "Kick Start your Healthier Life which highlighted all of the wonderful things about our retreats that make this a very special get -a-way.  Kick starting a healthier lifestyle is a great mantra for what a retreat can mean to women and is really what a retreat should be designed to do.  So I was honored and couldn't help but think that maybe all this positivity stemmed from the magic of Madeline.

And my dear sweet husband can ship me my yoga mat, right?  Sorry folks, just can't live without that (wink).

3 Funerals and a Graduation

My heart was heavy this week mirroring the heavy mugginess of our Wisconsin Spring. Usually this is the time that I skip through the days planning my family's move to our place of happy,  Madeline Island.  But each day of the last few weeks was an effort to get through some tough days and try to see the rainbows that colored our Eau Claire skies.

Two of the funerals were celebrations of lives well lived.  One was a beautiful life cut short.  All three were reminders of the fragility of life and what really matters in the end.

I have so much love for the many humans that attended these funerals with me.  I was reminded each time of how important the people in our lives are and in the end nothing is as important as love for one another.

Despite the sadness, I had a few moments of delight and joy as I watched my eldest walk across a stage for commencement.  It wasn't the piece of paper he received that delighted me.  It was the way he embraced one of his mentors on the stage with his large man-child body (he's 6'3) almost knocking him over.  My children know love.....and show love...... and that is one of the things I am proudest of as a mother.

My mantra lately, "in the end, only kindness matters."

The Day after Mother's Day

Yesterday was a fabulous day for many reasons.  

I ate a lot of really great food, received compliments from my sometimes (ahem) critical teenagers, and spent an afternoon at a garden center.  Pretty much my idea of heaven.  

I was also reflective most of the day.  It's so easy to forget just how demanding the job of mothering really is when you're swept up in the rig-a-ma-roll of it day after day. It becomes routine, its what we do.  And we lose sight of the contribution we make not only to our own family,

A collage made by my tech-savvy Grace of me and me and my 4gr8kdz.

but to the community, and the culture that we live in.   When a day like Mother's Day sneaks up on you and you really get a chance to think about the impact you have it's nothing short of mind-blowing.  For myself it took the words of an  8 year old who wrote, "you are awesome at yoga and you are pretty and you are just amazing because you are everything I need." Wow.  Whose heart wouldn't leap a little at those words of love?  

Another memory re-surfaced yesterday too.  I was reading a love letter that my mother-in-law wrote to her ailing mother.  One of the quotes was a comment about the wonderful life Dode, (my husband's grandmother) lived. She wrote that even bad times were okay because she  learned from them.  I couldn't even read the words they hit me so hard as it struck me the lessons we learn from our mothers.  I still feel pretty turbulent emotions when I think about my bad year experiences.  In the realm of battling cancer, my mother was there quietly taking care of me and the world I lived in.  I once asked her how she did it and she said, I did all of my crying before I got to your house.  And then when I left, I cried all the way home.

My daughter Grace probably struggled the most of my four kids the year I was sick.  And in putting it into perspective, she still handled it very well.  It wasn't until this year, almost four years later that she told me that my mother took her out for breakfast before taking her to school almost every day that she was in Eau Claire.  She took her out just to spend some time alone with her.  Apparently, they finished homework, played cards, and ate Perkins pancakes quite a bit.  I never knew.

Interestingly, I see this hidden amazingness in so many women that I know.  Perhaps it's the idea that we make the biggest impact on this world we live in by molding some really great little humans.  I'd like to think that is a pretty good reason to continue this never-ending job.  If not, it must be the collection of of play doh paper clip holders. Love and respect to all the Mothers.  Namaste.

 

  

And Poof, You Have a Graduate.

I'm pretty sure that the never-ending Wisconsin winter is the reason why I wasn't totally prepared for this year's graduation season and even worse, our oldest child's graduation.  Commencement and the subsequent parties are a spring thing and it just never seemed as though it would ever appear.  Adding insult to my self inflicted injury, you would think that a woman whose spouse in the business of graduation (husband's a Josten's guy) would be totally prepared for this celebration.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

I keep putting off addressing the box of graduation announcements at my desk.  I think I'm in denial.  Or self-preservation. Or something.  I don't think I'm ready to set him free.

A friend told me that I will be ready (really?) and that when the time is here, I will be relieved.  However, just looking at this picture makes me blurry and I can't help but think that a kid who recently drove husband's 57 Buick into the front porch isn't quite world prepared.  Not to mention that every one of his socks is pink from mixing reds and whites and that he still rinses his plate on the side of the sink without a disposal.  I have visions of him living in college housing dressed head to toe in unacceptably washed clothing with the smell of standing food lingering.  Or worse.

But the worst of me unravels when I think of the good stuff. How amazing he is, funny, sweet, and sensitive.  How can this kid be prepared to launch into a world that isn't always accepting of sensitive?  I'm worried that he will show up at our door with boot marks across his face.  Is it possible the we (read: I)  ruined him?

Last night we pulled out his baby pictures for the yearbook.  I was looking at the pictures of that chubby face dressed in full teddy bear gear (complete with ears) and forgive the cliche but it was truly just yesterday.  My heart ached.  I don't care if that is another cliche because it really did ache. I realized long ago that I can't every wrap him up in teddy bear pajamas and protect but it’s a whole different ball game when you feel like you may be feeding your child to sharks.   

My one consolation is that I'm not alone.  I'm thinking that many parents are in the same boat just hoping that when the child does stumble and fall; he will have the ability to dust off and re-start.  Unfortunately for husband, his 57 Buick does not have the same luxury..... but that's another blog post.

Refining your inner artist through yoga

The Madeline Island School of Arts

I have always been drawn to art in a somewhat similar way I have been drawn to yoga.  Both offer a refuge from the busy pace of our everyday life and open us up to the opportunity to be present.   Yoga and creativity have very similar purposes, to be present, to get out of an often judging mind, and to open to a new world of experience. Creating beautiful artwork is much like the meditation aspect of yoga.  There is an opportunity to be completely in tune with the mind and body, harnessing the brain in different capacity then traditional mundane tasks.

Artists will tell you that when they take the time to quiet their mind and begin to create something artistic, it is like an incredible high.  Yogis call the experience bliss.  Both come from a place where you can quiet your mind and let your soul take shape from within you.  Although yoga is most often though of as finding ease within the body, it also allows you to open up from the inside out and quite often harness creative energy.

As a yogi who dabbles in writing, I am familiar with the need to dig very deep in the depths of my psyche to allow creative ideas to emerge.  I always say that my best writing emerged when I was battling cancer.  At the time, so much of my life experience were raw and the visceral energy I was able to tap into produced a beautiful stream of words on my paper.  Words don’t come easy anymore unless I take the time to really listen to my heart and dig a little deeper.

An Art and Yoga retreat is a truly unique experience.  The practice of yoga is designed to awaken something from within.  From that point the artist transitions into a period of creating alongside the experienced and gentle guiding of an art teacher to that realization that something magical  is unfolding is a journey worth taking.

In combination with this, The Art and Yoga Retreat on Madeline Island offers a unique opportunity to be completely present.  The retreat is designed to allow you to forget about the everyday to do list and be enveloped in the richness of peaceful and inspirational naturescapes. Serene surroundings allow the artist to just “be” naturally in a state of stillness.  Distractions of everyday life do not block the creative flow of energy.  Combining this with asanas and prana will stimulate the life force within each retreater and inspire creative ideas to emerge.

You don’t need to be an experienced yogi or an experienced artist to participate in this retreat.  You just need to have a desire to dig deeper and experience something new.  It is not uncommon to leave a retreat experience filled with awe at the idea that you have rediscovered your true self. We look forward to working with you as you unleash your inner artist and discover a new way to bring yoga into your life.

Registration for this retreat is through MISA, The Madeline Island School of The Arts.

The Second Annual "The Courage is Contagious Project"

I'm so thrilled to be a part of this amazing project.  Celebrating life on Madeline Island with last year's three  recipients was dance music for my happy heart.  If there is a woman who inspires you and you know she would benefit from the health and well-being break that our retreats provide, nominate her!  Feel free to email me with questions:  amy@cleanspirityoga.com

A Post from a Teacher and a Student

 Everyone and everything around you is your teacher. 
~ Ken Keyes, Jr

Retreating in San Pancho this winter with eight other yogis was a blessing on so many levels but when asked what my favorite part about the trip was I didn't have to think hard.  It wasn't the escape from the winter blahs in February's Wisconsin (although that sure can life a spirit quickly) or even the laughter and adventure we experienced  in the jungle, it was the small tidbit of wisdom that I tucked in my pocket one afternoon in San Pancho. The above quote frames the feeling of that afternoon rather nicely.

Here's the explanation.  One of the retreaters suggested we bring something for the people of San Pancho, the small Mexican village where we were retreating.  Tamara from Tailwind who was our contact and guide for the retreat connected us with Nicole from  Entre Amigos, a community center for the children of San Pancho who told us to bring art supplies.  Easy enough.

Nicole explained to us that he community center was designed to teach the children to exist in an ever changing world  that ultimately changes these smaller Mexican communities where tourism is growing and impacting daily life.  The children are cared for, taught to read and create, and nurtured.  Ultimately some of these children are striving for continued education even onto college. This is a safe and educational haven for children and their families.

Nicole explained to us that bringing the concept of a community center to the small village provided many challenges as many of the local community members were unaware of how they could help.  It was the idea she set forth that everyone is a teacher that finally resonated.  Someone could build and someone else could babysit the children of the builder.  Ultimately, it was the coming together of this community that built this center.

And it really was a site to behold. Creativity abounded in the colorful building.  It was organized, self sustaining, but most amazing to me of all....in the midst of dogs, and many children, it was positively peaceful.

I'm not entirely sure of what magic we experienced that afternoon  but I am grateful for the experience of visualizing the idea that everything and everyone is a teacher.