Peru...

It's one of the places I would like to go to at some point. 

It came to mind today as everyone's been talking about the $14 million LottoPlus Jackpot. What would you do if you had $14 million? I know what I'd do with any large sum of money... pay off debts, invest (invest! - money must make more money!) and travel. 

One of the places that I'd like to explore is Peru... even though it's hilly (this Taurus girl is made for flat lands... grounded... I need to be grounded) and, I'm sure, very cold in parts. 

I first began thinking of visiting Peru many (many, many...) years back, when my mom lent me the Celestine Prophesy to read. It seemed like a very mystical place... air and earth and years of history. 

Then I forgot about it and only started thinking about it after secondary school - that bit of time where one stops to think about what happens next. I went on to do my degree, then started working and then everyday life just took over.

The regular, the everyday can suck you in. Ah well. 

It's been a random thought in my head for years. Some time back I came across the Living Routes website. They currently offer two programmes in Peru... they're both something I may consider at some point. 

While I was in Massachusetts, we spent time daydreaming of the next thing we'd do. The next major soul-enriching thing... the thing that was just what the heart wanted to and not the head. Volunteer at another place? Kalani maybe? Skydiving lessons? Yoga or Yoga Dance certification? Travel... Peru was one of the places we dreamed about.  

There is something about Peru. I'd like to go on a Magical Journey - Cusco to the Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu? I'd love to do that. 

Maybe one day I will. 

Daydream with me... where would you go if you had the time and the funds? Where calls to you? 

I'd like to know.

peace,

Ren

In praise of mango, julie mango...

Got my first julie mango of the year this morning from my dad. Maybe I could have taken a photo but... I was too busy savouring it. 

Mangoes are truly one of the best fruits around. They usually come into season from June to December but with the weather changes and such we're starting to get them earlier. If we get them at all. A few years back (two? three?) there wasn't much of a mango season due to the weather. This is why we should work to prevent climate change.  

I need my mangoes. Especially julie mangoes... delicious and juicy and fabulous. 

I remember when I was in Massachusetts in 2009, there would sometimes  be mangoes in the fruit buffet. Mangoes in America are not like mangoes in Trinidad. There's only one type that I've found... it's small and not as juicy and all I have to say is: I'm sorry*. You all need to experience the many different mangoes we have here. It will change your life. 

Last year I went to the 2012 Mango Festival... Might try to go again this year (it's supposed to be held in June I think). Major features of the festival include a mango market, sale of different products made from mango (last year I got Mango Chutney soap!) and grafting demonstrations (the best tasting mangoes come from trees that are grafted... not trees that are grown from seeds). 

Hopefully there are many more mangoes in my future and maybe in yours. 

peace,

Ren

*I'd be willing to trade some mangoes for some berries though... mmmmm. Lol. 

Still adventuring...

"We are shaped and fashioned by what we love." ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I think perhaps I may have lived in the Berkshires in a past life. How else can I explain the sense of homecoming I feel on my return here? Yes, one can say that I've been here before (last year - Kripalu experience) but even at that time there was an unexplainable sense of ..belonging. My heart is fuller.. my lungs breathe deeper. There is  a strange sort of peace. 

Since my last postings I have visited two Botanical Gardens.. laid my head down in completely different types of lodgings and immersed myself in the artsy spirituality that is this area of the world.

The first Garden to be visited was in NJ on Sunday... mom & I encouraged my brother to take us... Skylands - the New Jersey Botanical Gardens is simply gorgeous. It brings to mind weddings and garden parties and large family gatherings. Perhaps it is the Taurean in me that is pleased with all the green space, flowering plants and moving water. Taurus is an earth sign - we're supposed to be known for our green thumbs... I don't know why but my thumbs (or any other digits) totally missed that astrological influence. Plants die when I try to take care of them. Plants stay healthy (safe) if I let them be. I love looking at them though... and just being in such a space can be incredibly uplifting and energizing. 

The next day my mom and I were on our way to Massachusetts. Due to some unforeseen circumstances we arrived later than scheduled and thus booked the night at the Red Lion Inn, Stockbridge, MA. I think my mom has karma with this Inn that maybe she's worked out now. Last year when I was a volunteer at Kripalu and mom came by me she got off at the wrong bus stop which incidentally was the one at the Red Lion Inn. Since then she's always talked about how nice they were and such. When we found ourselves needing a place to stay urgently it seemed that the best idea would be to stay at the Red Lion (the bus stops there after all). The Red Lion Inn has major history as it dates back almost two centuries. It's New England charm at its best. We travelled to the 2nd floor via an old-fashioned cage elevator... We counted teapots in the dining room... We were generally charmed by the entire place... 

The Red Lion Inn is in Stockbridge, MA. Totally worth visiting. We did a walking tour... stuffed our suitcases into the rental car and wandered around like the tourists we were. Feasted our eyes at the Schantz Gallery: contemporary glass sculptures at its best. Contemplated going to the Library but knew we'd end up spending the day there...

Got into our rental car and headed to our main place of abode during our mini-week in the Berkshires... the GPS couldn't find it. Luckily we (female Trinis) have a semi-developed sense of direction.. we're in the midst of the state forest..


Day after... designated Kripalu day... much love to you people who I did see and who I didn't... it was great being back... soaking in the atmosphere... so different yet so much the same. Energy flow and grow... A piece of my heart resides there... Questions: how long am I back for? Will I come again? What am I doing now? Am I using what I learnt? Am I? Hmm... Still in processing ... hold on all the questions. One truth: I want to travel to places such as this. Keeping an eye out for the road to Mexico. Cloud coverage over MA... Heaviness in the atmosphere. 

Last full day in the Berkshires: weather: sunny - hardly a cloud in the sky. Plan to be out early... end up staying in till the afternoon. I love you my mama.. and I worry. Visit to the Norman Rockwell Museum... did you know he spent the last 25 years of his life in Stockbridge?  Have new found appreciation for both his art and his life. 

Visit to the second Garden: the Berkshire Botanical Gardens... beauty.. form.. nature. They've got a Hogwarts garden! Inspired by Harry Potter and filled with plants and herbs for the witch and wizard... lol... Yes, I do like some fantasy mixed in with my reality.. Thank you. 

Feel a bit lost ... am I really leaving tomorrow? Yes. Sneak into Kripalu and pay a last visit to the Labyrinth... Contemplation. Where am I now... what do I need to be doing... what's holding me back... 

We drive through Undermountain... my mom no longer holds on to the seat though the road is narrower... who needs a GPS? I don't. Forest. Mountain. Beauty. There is a bit of me that aches when I think about leaving. Living in the moment... still hard to do... will it one day be easier? Breathe. 


Late night and I'm closing here. We take a bus to NY today/tomorrow/early morning and that signals the return leg of this journey. It's my brother's birthday today. Time moves but is there really time? Questions and answers and I'm in a strange mood tonight...


May we find what we seek... guidance on our path... 


peace,
Rtr

Kripalu...

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." ~Mark Twain 

Today is May 4th... I've been feeling out-of-sorts all day with part of myself remembering the past, part of myself trying to stay focused on the present and part of myself wandering off into the future. What's important about May 4th you ask? 

I started on an adventure. In actuality the complete adventuring process started months before with planning and filling out of forms and talking to people (family, friends, work). The date that I realised I was adventuring though was - May 4th 2009. On that day I became a volunteer at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. 

I know that there were a lot of people (family, friends, work.. lol) wondering what the xyz I was doing. I admit... I myself was wondering the same thing... On May 4th 2009 however, I found myself in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts after having taken a flight to NYC and then a bus to Lenox, Massachusetts. These trips did not happen consecutively so there was some time to wonder what I was getting myself into. 

There aren't many people I know that would take a period of no-pay leave to go off to another country and be a volunteer for four months at a Yoga Center. That's what I did... and why did I do it? For me. Cuz I was feeling lost and claustrophobic and wondering if there was nothing more to life than the ordinary. There are many stories about how persons get to Kripalu... or go on any kind of spiritual quest really. In my case it was a longing to experience .. something .. that you know is out there but just haven't had yet. I'd known about the place for .. years. And I knew that I'd get there eventually though I didn't think it would have been as a volunteer. Towards the end of 2008 however I found myself wanting to scream. It felt like I'd been giving and giving of myself with nothing being renewed... and it was then I knew I had to do something or I'd turn into a crazy loon (ok.. maybe a crazy b*tch).  And so, I applied... and I was interviewed... and I was accepted. I don't think I ever told all you who supported me and helped convince me and said of course that's what I should do thanks... so. Thanks. Much love and blessings to you.

The Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to promoting the art and science of yoga to produce thriving and health in individuals and society. Their volunteer program seeks to cultivate the practice of work as an avenue of self-discovery. It isn't all sunshine and bliss. The volunteers make up a major part of the workforce of the Center - you'll find volunteers working in just about every aspect of the daily running of the Center. It's hard work but at the same time... it's work approached from a different angle. There's a lot of talk about self-inquiry and development. Energy awareness and how is this sitting with you now? Stretch, Breathe, Flow, Release. 

Each person's experience is unique and rightly so as each individual is unique and travelling on their own path. A year from when I began I'm still processing the experience. BRFWA - breathe, relax, feel, watch and allow... How am I feeling in this moment? Thankful... for the experience. Happy... that I went through with it and didn't allow doubts of what am I doing.. where am I going.. why am I here.. to cloud my focus. Grateful... for the community that I was a part of... the friends I made... the people I interacted with. Grown up-Mature in a way that I can't explain. Wistful... cuz it was a whole world apart from the regular world and in some ways is an example of how I'd like the world to be. Calm... what will be will be... que será será.

And so to close this post I leave you with a lil bit ah memories that aren't in any particular order. If you were there... I know you can picture it... If you weren't and you want to see pics - I've got them.. but really... I advise a visit... it doesn't have to be a four-month-as-a-volunteer visit but Kripalu... it's a place you'd want to check out. 

Bus ride. Spilled coffee. Traveller on the Appalachian trail. Lenox. Shuttle rides. Volunteer badges. Hill House. Work schedule. Program choices. Yoga. Breakfast, lunch and dinner oh my! Raw granola. Avocados. Volunteer table. Dance. Blindfold dance. Taking-over-the-Tavern dance. YogaDance. Off-the-Mat. Smudging. Creating. Writing. Om. Walks to Hill House... to Shadowbrook... to Lenox. Baby blue bicycle. Shut down week. Tanglewood. Jacob's Pillow. Coffee. Workroom. True Blood. Elevator convos. Late night convos. Talk talk talk. Feel. Break down. BRFWA. Movie night. Writing workshop. Kombucha. Shiva Rea. Dinabandhu. Birthdays. Cards. Birthday cards. Parties. Kundalini Yoga - I never got there .. oy. Full Moon Fire Ceremony. Monks and nuns. Music. Stretch. Move. Magic Show. YTT. Strawberries. Laughter. Cuddle puddles.

Thanks Universe for guiding me where I need to go. Look out Kripalu - I'll be visiting in two weeks or so. 

love,

Rtr

Edited to add some perspective: I'm linking to posts from two of my fellow volunteers about their experiences at Kripalu. I remember when I was researching it how excited I was to find the blog of someone who had been volunteering there as well... so... if you like this post... check out these as well:

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  Ready to talk about Mastodons and Elephants. (inspired by weekly share)
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  Spend a year living at a yoga center

peace,

Rtr