Once again I’m back at the Omega Institute https://www.eomega.org/ to teach Nia to Workshop participants and Staff. It is a welcome break as I have been quite busy. When I  re-settled three years ago in Santa Barbara I was not quite sure if I made the right decision to return. I’m part of this community, however I missed traveling and exploring new places. I listened to my intuition which told me it was time to stay put. In hindsight it all came together organically (and actually fairly quickly): Aside from the two locations where I had been teaching Nia for more than a decade I offered Yin Yoga, Gentle and Chair Yoga and private classes. Movement students, who found out about my Reiki for Animals training asked  if I could take care of their dog or cat while they left town to travel or go on a business trip.  I’m grateful for the old fashioned ‘word of mouth’.

Santa Barbara, always known as ‘Paradise’ had quite a share of challenges. First the ongoing drought, then the Thomas Fire in December of 2017, followed by the devastating mud slides in the beginning of the new year. As the world’s climate changes, California has been facing extreme heat … never seen before in the modern historical record.

And on August 1st 2018 a new report from the nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank Public Policy Institute of California  published the sad news  that  ‘Santa Barbara County’s poverty rate is the third highest in the state’.

While experiencing all of this and the challenging state of the world  – which Media bombards us with constantly – it becomes difficult to trust that we are blessed. Is there is a divine order to things? In spite of what appears to happen to us it might not be all bad … hopefully we are going through a Metamorphosis where something has to die in order to be born. Every day I ask myself how I can keep in alignment with what is the highest good for all in my daily life.

It feels good to be here … even some rainclouds (and pouring rain) are a welcome change.

The first two days I experienced an interesting challenge …  I  do consider myself a minimalist but was a bit perturbed when I found out that my luggage got lost on my way to JFK. I was wondering what I really needed out of that bag: For starters my iPod and my charging cables for my MacBook Air.  I was scheduled to start teaching a movement class the following day and access to my extensive library of music was essential. I did have a toothbrush and my room comes with towels and soap. The basics!  I found some  Yoga pants in the Donation bin, rolled them up and waded to the Dining Hall through fast forming puddles. A raincoat can be made out of a garbage bag. I ended up buying  in the bookstore just one top for class which made the pants look okay. When the  bag re-appeared some 48 hours later I was glad. My computer was running out of juice.

It was kind of nice to get a break from my computer though. In my daily life I use it quite a bit … I don’t subscribe to TV, however I watch Netflix and YouTubes and Webinars on it and check a multitude of emails every day. Once in a while I scroll through Social Media and Instagram.  It can be enlightening and fun and can help us find our tribe if used in an authentic and mindful way, but often it just uses up precious time.

“Much of modern life, though seeming to promote connectivity, has had the opposite effect of fostering social isolation and loneliness,” writes Jane E. Brody in The New York Times. When we exit the matrix, we can come back into alignment with ourselves.

When the iPhone came out in the end of June  2007 it truly changed basic societal actions. Cell phones can definitely be beneficial and keep us connected to others we would not have been so easily connected to in the past. But – mobile consumers nowadays spend apparently 3 hours and more on it daily. What happens when we never allow our brain to relax and meander … when we don’t allow ourselves to actually get bored?  I do take my iPhone with me almost everywhere (there can always be the unexpected photo op), however I don’t have it always on. I prefer to walk (with or without dog)  in nature surrounded by silence. I can tap into my own thoughts, let them drift aimlessly or even come up with a new idea. Often creativity is born out of boredom which allows for new and different connections in our brain.

My favorite place to hang out is the lake … it was a lovely surprise to find myself on the board:

I’m happily relaxing a few more days … it just stopped drizzling and I’ll go for a swim.