The collective realm: dancing in the moonlight

I fluttered open my eyes and waited for them to readjust to the darkness. My alarm had just sounded, impolitely plucking me from a dream where I was dancing with the moon.

I looked around and my eyes focused on two bodies in the beds next to me. Slowly they began to move, rustle and awaken for the day. Sharing yawns and sleepy smiles, we pulled on our yoga gear and stepped outside; the cool air kissing our skin and flushing our cheeks.

Ahhhh the ultimate wake up. Free, refreshing, natural and from the lovely Mother Nature herself. The morning breeze is much better than caffeine!

We make our way down to the bottom Shala and roll out our yoga mats for practice.

Over the past week, my yoga mat and I have formed such a special friendship. Of course we’ve always been friendly, but when you’re partnered together for 10 hours a day, you really appreciate familiarity and comfort. My mat provides exactly that, plus a sense of calmness, a softness underfoot and a big, beautiful invitation for stillness. Returning to my mat daily (well, in this case, hourly) is similar to experiencing a warm, welcome-home hug, or feeling solidarity with space. But, mostly, it was like staring up at the skies and soaking up the moon’s shine.

Returning to my mat daily (well, in this case, hourly) is similar to experiencing a warm, welcome-home hug, or feeling solidarity with space.

My yoga mat is also similar to a rock. It’s my trusty anchor, my internal compass. It has held emotions that have been tough to feel, and has gently guided me through inner transformations and to deeper insights. Like a pebble in a stream, my practice and state of being is constantly being refined and recreated.

I’ve discovered that my mat provides a significant, strong and stable foundation for when life flows all around me. And, with loyalty and acceptance, it forgives the bumpy ways I flow through my practice, urging me to do the same. With my mat’s reassuring, unwavering grip beneath me, I am able to explore the expansive edges of my being. And when I dare to look deeper within, I feel supported, grounded, balanced and free.

My yoga mat creates a gentle platform for me to experience movement in all its many forms: physically and structurally as I move through asana; physiologically as I feel oxygen and fresh blood flowing around my nervous system; mentally as I shift into more uplifting, positive states of being; cognitively as I experience a heightened awareness; emotionally as I dissolve stress and tension; and spiritually as I release the flow of prana through the energetic channels and raise my vibrational frequency.

My yoga mat is my perfect fit and allows me to cultivate a life filled with love, health, happiness, wellness and abundance. It provides a safe haven for me to play in the world, shift mountains from my mind and create space as wide as the skies.

But most of all, it’s a place where I can dance in the moonlight.