Prana Journal

Last Saturday, my wife and I set off for a late vacation in the Caribbean. We had hoped that we would be able to avoid hurricanes and foul weather. The first two days, the sun was out and we spent some great time on the beach.

On Monday, we woke up to strong winds, sheets of rain and a growing awareness of what we had gotten ourselves into.

Hurricane Earl sweeps across our beach front on St. Thomas, VI

Our resort was located right on the ocean, but on the leeward side of the island so the full force of the storm did not hit us. We were also sheltered by hills. The resort management switched over to their own power generator even before the storm hit.

Hurricane Earl lashes the pool at our resort on St. Thomas, VI

Shortly after I took these shots, the wind shifted and came straight at us. Our balcony began to fill with water. Darkness came and we could not see how fiercely the winds were blowing, only hear their howling. That was the most intimidating momemnt.

After the eye passed the Virgin Islands, heavy surf still battered our small cove

When we woke up, the worst had passed, but the ocean was still boiling and beating against the beach front.

Only a few days before, this was a pristine beach and the waters were almost like a pond

Unfortunately, we did not take any before pictures of the beach front. We had been pleasantly surprised by the intimacy of the setting. We could practically step out of our quarters and be on the beach in 20 steps. The sands were clean. After the storm, the shore had been beaten and chewed up by the waves, leaving behind decomposing vegation and other debris.

Iguanas come out of hiding after the storm had gone

Vacationers have to share the shoreline with iguanas and other lizards that bask in the sun and scamper up the palm trees.

The waves churned up a mass of vegetation and dumped it on the sands

What most people don’t know about hurricanes is that the cleanup is a pain. The beaches are filled with sea weed, dead sea life, debris and gunk stirred up from the bottom. It’s like the vomit from a hangover — it stinks to high heaven. The authorities declared all beaches off limits for swimming and wading until testing could guarantee that the waters were safe. Clean up would clear away a first harvest of garbage and the next day would bring another layer of debris.

Although Hurricane Earl had moved past St Thomas, heavy seas still pounded the shores

The storm tailed off over Tuesday, with a little boost from Tropic Storm Fiona, and the ocean began to settle down gradually. We will probably not get a chance to swim in it again since we are leaving on Saturday.

A classic hand mudra during meditation closes the energy circuits

I went to my first session at Thrive Yoga since last Friday, a vinyasa flow 2/3 that should have been beyond my reach because of my lack of practice. I could have panicked; instead, I let the yoga find me on the mat. If I felt winded, I went into child’s pose. If I wanted to keep my own pace, I did not let the lack of synchronization with the rest of the class throw me off. I paid attention to how a particular pose felt, what muscles were taxed and twitching, what was different from previous sessions. It was fine. I made it through the class and did not feel worse for the wear.

During the past week, my 9-to-5:30 job seemed to  stretch into a 9-to-6:30 because last-minute requests required extra time at the end of the day. So I don’t make it home in time for the 6:30 or 7:30 classes.

At least I have my yin/restorative routine in the evening, but that does not condition me for a vinyasa flow class. It keeps my muscles and fascia from shortening into my old habits of being a keyboard slave. I am more interested in learning to release my muscle tension that building muscle strength so I am not going to berate myself. I am more interested in monitoring my daily yoga practice, however modest it might be, to see how it changes than focusing on the peak performances that come from an advanced vinyasa class or master workshop.

That’s an important shift in perspective: I used to look to a formal yoga class and a trusted instructor to produce the substantive change in my condition as a yogi; now, I see daily practice as being the more powerful leverage point in altering the balance of my being.  I need my daily practice to feel at ease and sane. It’s taken six years, but I think the turning point came when I heard Kelly McGonigal give some advice in a Google Talk when asked what kind of yoga a novice should do at home: she said go for whatever your body is asking for, listen to your body. So in the evenings, I started to do the poses that my body seemed to be asking for. Kelly may have written this point in her book or made a point of  it in her online class five years ago and it never sank in.