Kripalu-

This post could either be immensely long and deeply personal, or just short and sweet.  I could do an entire post just on the yoga and the food at Kripalu.

 

For once, I am going with short and sweet.

 

Kripalu was everything I could have dreamed of and more.  I left what I needed to leave and returned with a heart full of all that I needed to have.

 

 It was truly wonderful for me to spend 48 hours caring only for myself.  I missed my family but relished the quiet focus on me.  I picked out these four leaves that reminded me of our family.

 When it was time to return home I was nearly giddy with the excitement of seeing my three loves.



The Maine bridge is always a welcomed sight on any return journey.

 When I got home the hugs and kisses and exuberant expressions filled me to overflowing. I had not one but TWO welcome home signs.

 It was with this sign that I was told of the not one, but two, new hamsters that the girls had gotten that very day.  (The story of catching Ella's hamster Sugar did not end happily.)  If you look in the lower right corner, I am welcomed home by Cinnamon the bunny as well as "Lemon" and "Limo" which are indicated by the words "new". 

The gifts I take from Kripalu feel firmly lodged within my cellular membranes.  The friendships I made feel like exactly the support I have been seeking. I think Kripalu is a magical place but I also  acknowledge that I went ready to work and part of what I got out of it was what I brought with me. I feel incredibly grateful for the opportunity and feel lighter in every way.  I have a new joy and contentment in my heart that comes less from achieving anything in particular and more with quieting the constant chatter of my mind, with its litany of judgements and criticisms, and allowing the inherent joy of simply being.

I also really, really want to go back and become a Kripalu yoga teacher....