Gentle Rise, Easy Fall

In the spirit of trying different things here at home (the vacation-without-leaving-town concept I mentioned earlier), I went to a yoga class taught by the famous Geo (one name only—he’s that famous). I now see why he has such a huge following in Laguna. The class was great—it was challenging and fast-paced and involved a lot of pushups—ouch. But even better was Geo’s warmth and kindness, which you would think would be core values of yoga people everywhere, but sometimes (in my experience) are not. Geo is your basic dream-yogi: he’s bright-eyed, puckish, sixty-something years old, and has a way of focusing on and affirming each person in his packed-out classes.

I read on Geo’s web site that he served as a U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant in Vietnam and fought during the Tet Offensive. He studied yoga in India in the 70s under some famous yogis whose names I can’t pronounce, and more recently, authored The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Power Yoga, which I will be buying. Bravo, Geo! I’ll be back.

Balance, flow, sweat, breathe.
Watch your breath, let it go and
know that you are blessed.