Practicing surrendering

~60 mi to Manassas

~40 mi to Fredericksburg

Fredericksburg was beautiful. Sarah Perry (of Downtown Greens INC) warmly welcomed me and set me up with a bed in my own apartment.

It was Virginia, and I was finally starting to feel "south" which I think meant to me that it was all starting to feel "real". 

It's such a strange thing packing your life into a bag, putting it onto the back of your bike, and just going. I suppose my bike is my home now. But, surprisingly, I don't feel displaced. In fact, I feel comfortable. Adjusted. Grateful, truly.

It snowed (again) in Fredericksburg, and I (only half-jokingly) thought to myself, "what if winter never ends?" Of course it would; it was just one of those passing thoughts that came to me when I seeped too far out of the present moment. I'm constantly working on this...

Due to the snow, class with the Boys and Girls Club of the Rappahannock Region was canceled. I've been practicing surrendering because sometimes circumstances are just of of our control. I hope to reschedule class with Downtown Greens (community garden) and the B+G Club perhaps sometime in the summer.

Fortunately, class was still scheduled to happen with the women and staff at the EmpowerHouse domestic violence center. It was snowing/raining, and biking there was not possible, but I did walk with the bike for the 4 miles to the facility. I was so thrilled for this class to happen. I arrived soaked, yet complacent.

We worked through an hour of breathing, movement and meditation, and then all had lunch together at the facility. One woman said her father always told her to try yoga but she was too afraid; now she was glad for the opportunity, she said. Another woman was headed to two job interviews right after lunch and was grateful for the relaxing class beforehand.

I feel so grateful for those connections outside of the yoga as well as for Sarah's hospitality in helping me to feel at home while in Fredericksburg (her boyfriend even lent me his guitar, so you can imagine my excitement). 

The general consensus seems to be, "How are you doing this alone?" 

Well, I'm not. Don't you see?

From the silent student in class, to the shared meals, to the dialogues, to the person on the side of the road waving at me as I bike by...

We are all sharing in this journey together. And the god (of my understanding) is in every one of them.

Winter will end. To whatever is bound to happen, I surrender.