Today, I symbolically start my world cycling tour to
coincide with the first anniversary of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake, which
destroyed Nepali lives, world heritage sights and setting a nation many years
back. As I am grateful for Nepal and its generous people I will cycle the world
with them in my heart and on my mind. My original plan for teaching yoga for
donations around the world earmarked to Nepal’s reconstruction didn’t inspire
much interest in the limited yoga world I’ve contacted -- many in number, small
in representation. This is disappointing on more than one level; one, that
yogis and yoginis seem to be detached, but not the type of detachment that is
dictated in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, rather it’s a detachment from the Eight
Limbed Yoga paths. Two, that Nepal seems to be a forgotten land although most
can easily recall the highest peak of Everest and might know that the Buddha
was born in Lumbini, but Nepal is never mentioned perhaps a reflection on the
small size of this landlocked country sandwiched between India and China, two
heavyweights.
Having said that, now for how my next few months will look. I
am leaving Nepal to the U.S. on May 4th. I will teach first in Washington
DC then head to Philadelphia, PA and New Jersey, then to the West Coast. That’s
as far as my plans are taking me based on the invitations I’ve received and can
travel to this year. A big THANK YOU to the kind hosts who have extended their
generosity to me to come and visit them around the world in Iceland, South
Africa, Mexico, Philippines, Brazil, Portugal, Thailand, Germany, and the
Netherlands! I will coordinate the logistics and announce my itinerary to those
yoga studios as it becomes available.
Soon thereafter, I will look for more stable teaching
opportunities around the world with the intent of teaching no less than a month
and no longer than three in any one place. This freedom will allow me to roam
the world on my bicycle for the sake of teaching yoga without the confusion of
money allocation to my cause. Nepal will be front and center, as I talk to
people around the world about the country and its needs sharing my experience
of eight months eating, socializing and living among the warmhearted Nepali
people; a happy sojourn. For those of you who have donated to my cause, your
money will empower, educate and expand opportunities for Nepalese in ways
neither of us are capable of imagining at the moment. Stay tuned for updates on
how that money is allocated!
I hope to see some of you on a yoga mat chanting Om in a
unifying breath, syncing our vibration to the universe for personal grounding,
balancing and awareness may our collective energy make us better humans for us
and to others.
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