Morning Meditation, Silence and Swim.

Every once in a while we have been meeting on the beach at 6am instead of at the Shala for our pranayama and meditation. When we arrived in the darkness this morning there was no teacher. We set up in a circle and eventually Scarlett appeared, but she doesn't teach us meditation or pranayama, so we were all a bit confused. A half hour passed and then eventually Scarlett chimed in. She said "How many people were waiting? Waiting for a teacher to say something? Waiting for instruction? Waiting for a dismissal? COME OUT OF WAITING AND COME INTO *BEING*". She encouraged us to enjoy and be in silence, instead of always waiting for what's next. Just *be*. The Buddha once have an hour long lecture, where he just stood with a flower, saying nothing, and then left. When we are waiting, we let in anxiety, worry, maybe even fear. Turn waiting into watching, into being. It was a powerful lesson.

After the meditation and a bit of breath work, we did an osho meditation where we jumped up and down with our arms overhead, making a "huh" sound (the sound was just a result of the jump, super organic). After several minutes of doing this, we stopped, and I yelled. Not really a yell, a scream. A loud fucking scream. Two, actually. It was so necessary...to release all of the sadness that was built up in my chest. And then Scarlett stripped off her clothes and jumped into the ocean. And since she's the teacher, many of us followed. Some people went in clothes, some were naked, others like me were just in tank tops and undies. The water was as warm as a bath tub and as glassy as a lake, and the air was crisp and cool as the sun was rising up over the hill. On the walk back to the Shala, everyone had smiles on their faces. I truly felt born again when I got out of the water. So grateful for the journey. God Bless.