As we drove away from our house early yesterday morning, the snow was coming down and everything was super quiet and really beautiful. Our house was locked up and we were packed to the brim as usual, poor Subie, heading out to start the long, dreary and extremely slippery drive to Los Angeles to catch our flight to sunny New Zealand & Western Australia for the next few weeks for some work, and of course some riding & surfing adventures. This was the first time in a while that I have actually been home in Bend for almost 2 and a half months straight - quite something. No weekend trips or getaways, just at home, in Bend. The thought of it scared me at first, but I was enrolled to start my Yoga Teachers Training certification course at MYC, so I had no choice, I was signed up and committed to be in town for the full duration of the course - 5 weeks. I was excited and nervous, but soon found myself completely submerged and embraced by a whole new community in Bend. I met new people every day, made some wonderful friends during the teacher training course whose friendships I will cherish for the rest of my life. I was introduced to Kirtan, crazy dancing yoga classes, Sanskrit words, chanting, singing, common table, The Mysore Brothers from India, candlelight yoga, 3 First Friday's, Gerry Lopez yoga, Sean Hayes, DJ Lucius the fire Shaman, the artists at the Poet House, Mandalas in lunch hour flow with Kat, the list goes on and on. So much has happened in my life over the last 2 months of being at home in Bend. It has been so refreshing to embrace the community, to dive into it and to be embraced by them. After living in Bend for the past 5 years, this was the first time that I made the effort to embrace, and when you decide to embrace, lovely things seem to develop and bloom around you. It is quite nice when the people at the coffee shop actually knows your name - a first for me!
So when we pulled away yesterday morning, all packed up and ready for our next adventure, I couldn't help but feel quite sad. Sad to leave our cozy house covered in snow. Sad to leave my routine of going to yoga and learning new and exciting things everyday, sad to not be able to teach at MYC for now, but also excited. This is my life right now, and I need to embrace it. We are nomads traveling to where the work moves, for now and I will always be able to settle down again. Now that we have left, I cannot wait to discover new single track trails, rugged mountains, the smell of the ocean, adventures, sunshine, new yoga classes, camping, kumara fries & flat white coffee's. I am ready for our next adventure. I have said good bye. Thank you Bend for a great couple of weeks, we'll be back - sometime soon with a whole new appreciation.
Much Love
Namaste.
Anka x.