Yoga lives here

I'm living in an abandoned building with 30 people, one hour South of Portland in the countryside of Oregon. We are living on 55 acres of land, the building we are currently living in is large enough to accomodate 500 or more people and there are 5 or 6 other buildings this same size on our property. Why am I doing this? Yoga. I am here because yoga lives here.
Every morning, our group rises together before the sun is up and we meditate. We stretch and prepare our bodies beforehand and then as a group, we say a prayer, asking the divine to bless our meditation. We spread out our multi colored blankets, meditation pillows or benches, malas, yoga mats, om boards and other yoga paraphernalia and for 2 hours, we invite the divine into our temples, and we commune. Where I go for those two hours every morning, I cannot even begin to explain. The only thing I can say is if you haven't tried meditation, you must. It is one of the most beautiful, deep and fulfilling things in my life. In fact, it is the most important thing in life. How can I start my day before thanking my creator. How can I possibly have any other priority before connecting with myself after my nightly seperation in deep sleep. Paramahansa Yogananda, the man who brought me to yoga, is my eternal teacher. Though his body is not physically on this plane, he is right here with me, in this abandoned building, in the city, in everything and everywhere I go. He is in my heart and mind, one day he will be more real than anything I can see, hear or touch.

We have a joke here at Ananda Laurelwood, the community I became part of as of March 28, 2012, that everyday here is like a week in the outside world. In growth physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally, so much transpires here daily that it is almost insane to possibly conceive. I am growing here, I will say that much.

I love yoga. I started practicing it in a real way almost ten years ago now, when I was 18 years old. Life was empty, confusing and full of pain when I started to search out answers to what this world was all about. That's when the teachings started to come, when I started to ask the questions. That old saying, "the teacher comes when the student is ready", is true. I never say, "I found my guru", my guru in fact, found me. He loves me and I love him and trust him more deeply than anyone I have ever met in this life. It's a confusing relationship if you have no concept of surrendering your life fully to something outside of yourself. It involves giving up your self, your "self", the ego, in order to become something greater, in order to fully become your self. It's like chipping away at a block or removing the dirt from a stone to uncover a diamond underneath. I am a butterfly diamond, an angel of light. This is what we all are underneath the self definitions, blocks, ideas, likes, dislikes, we are all something golden and glowing. I am finally becoming more myself than I ever felt would be possible. I love where I live and where I am at in my life, it's all becoming so magical, so beautiful. I am free. I never felt in a million years that I could feel this light, this joyful, this peaceful. I never thought I could be happy because I thought life was just in itself, a sad thing and most of the time, I didn't even want to be here, I didn't want to be alive. I used to pray to leave and one time, I was allowed an experience that showed me life is a choice but more so, it is a gift. Life is a gift from God because he loves us and I am uncovering that gift more and more through my practice. I look forward to uncovering more and sharing more so please stay tuned.

With love
xox
Clarity