Finding a True Yogi
Yesterday I drove up to Aspen to take a class at one of my favorite yoga studios in town, King Yoga. Since quitting Bikram, I haven’t been able to keep up my yoga routine, and I miss it: the stretching, the meditation and the peace we all need so badly.
The room was overcrowded, and I felt myself retreating. Ever since living in New York City, I don’t do well with crowds, and I worried this was exactly what I didn’t need.
I asked the man next to me if the studio was always that crowded on Saturday mornings. What a peaceful face he had. He looked at me with soft, warm brown eyes, his beautiful silky silver hair gathered into a ponytail, loose strands falling around his face. “It’s just grist for the mill,” he said.
The door opened, and silhouetted in the bright rays of the sun, in walked Simon Park, a guest teacher. I was mesmerized. He was a beautiful, peaceful man, radiating light. At the beginning of class, he led us through eight Oms that filled my body with an energy that brought on tears. Whether it was residue from my cleanse, Simon’s energy, the sadness I’d been feeling for friends in their struggles, or my own sadness or complete happiness, I couldn’t place it, but it was real and flowing.
After an hour and a half of thumping around my mat while watching a true yogi flow effortlessly into beautiful postures, we lay down and relaxed into savasana. Simon quietly brought us out of our meditation, and as he said his words of peace and thanks, I began to cry silently again and had to bow my head, since he was sitting directly in front of me and I didn’t want to draw attention to myself. I felt like Julia Roberts playing Liz Gilbert in Eat Pray Love. “For goodness’ sake, get control of yourself,” I said… to myself.
After class, I waited for everybody to leave so I could meet Simon. “I know this sounds crazy, but I have my video camera in the car, and I would love to interview you and tap into your incredible energy,” I said. Surprisingly, he agreed to five minutes before heading off to play in the mountains with a friend.
Simon didn’t say much, but what he did say was simply profound. If we could all live with a little more light, yoga, meditation, caring and love for each other, the world would be a much better place. “It’s easy!”
