108 Days of OHMazing™ Journeys

Welcome to our 108 Days of OHMazing™ Journeys!

Today we launch our new DVD, Vishnu's OHMazing™ Journeys, created in partnership with the Crow Collection of Asian Art, we invite you to participate in 108 Days of OHMazing™ Journeys. . Each Tuesday for the next several months, we will post about someone's journey. Starting today, we will be giving away a FREE DVD each week to a randomly chosen person who comments on the Tuesday blog post.

Purchase the new DVD here!

For the 108 Days of OHMazing™ Journeys, we also will post each day of the week on different topics including poses, wellness, healthy snack ideas, being a hero at home, and much much more!

Join me, please, and celebrate the unfolding of our paths.  

Shanti ~ Peace ~ Paz
Beth 
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When the Teacher is Ready the Student Arrives

"People say when the student is ready, the teacher appears. I also think when the teacher is ready the student appears... and it is here where our life's path often begins to unfold."
~ Rama Jyoti Vernon, SYTAR CA 2011

Jordan on her 10th Birthday.

On February 25, 2000, my first daughter, Jordan, arrived. At 37 weeks I woke up at 4am feeling that her journey into this world was much closer. After watering new plants and taking care of a few things, like packing my bag, at noon I went to see my doctor.

"Yup. I see what looks like snowflakes under the microscope. That's amniotic fluid. We should admit you to the hospital to prevent infection," said Zis Weisburg, my fantastic doctor.

A short-time later my other doctor joined me in my room. I remember him sitting down next to me and looking at me with compassion and saying, "I know you have spent a lot of time on your birth plan. We have discussed it at length and it's really well-done. And I am so sorry to say it's pretty much out the window."

IV?
check.

Pitocin?
check.

Pitocin cranked?
check.

Give-in and get epidural?
Big check.

Walking?
no.

Breathe and be flexible?
.... when the teacher is ready the student arrives.

Me and Amy Hofland (right).

Jordan arrived 10 hours later. My favorite call was to my dear friend and colleague, Amy Hofland. "Amy, I've been trying to think what the best birthday present for you would be.... and all I've got is a baby....!?!?!?" Laughter and tears and hugs from miles away came pouring through the phone.

Jordan, as many of you know, has Sensory Integration Disorder (I really prefer "Gift" than "disorder," but that's a topic for another day.). She was a gift from the moment she was conceived, and that became crystal clear that first night in the hospital. Never before in my life had there been someone who desperately needed me and my unconditional love and patience.  The intensity of her presence still remains rather constant and I find myself turning toward my yoga practice for grace and help daily. .... when the teacher is ready the student arrives.

When Jordan was 6 years old we learned her challenges had this name. We were told she would not grow out of it, but needed to learn to grow into it. Embracing this idea, we entered an ongoing conversation about the solution and management of the challenge, rather than the problem itself. Here I discovered that much of what I was learning in yoga, Jordan was learning in Occupational Therapy. We work together to reflect and respond on "misfiring dendrites"; what does that feel like and can you sense when it starts? We developed a "tool box" that "make my dendrites feel good," Jordan would share.

Indeed, my dendrites felt better, too. .... when the teacher is ready the student arrives.

Jordan enjoys writing screen-plays.

Flash forward 11 years. Jordan's toolbox is one she shares with friends when they are in need. She is a gifted screen-writer, movie-maker, director, producer, and editor; she is learning professional editing programs. We had a conversation last night reflecting on how she needs a job "like yours mom, because you do different things everyday and I don't work right when it's too routine." .... when the teacher is ready the student arrives.

Four years ago I disembarked from a career as a University Galleries director and Visiting Professor of Art. I left in part because the work was no longer right for me. I was scared. Who would I be if not an academic? I also wanted to spend more time with my kids including my son, Cole, and then newborn, Andersen. I wanted to be with them, and I dreamed of helping them feel confident with navigating this ever-evolving planet. .... when the teacher is ready the student arrives.

We can choose to see life as a churning ocean bringing forth treasures.

Three years ago I began Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®. At its core, the program strives to offer youth and families tools and techniques to make their lives rich with OHMazing™ Journeys. I never dreamed that by following this unexpected path I would have the opportunity to gaze eye-to-eye with so many youth, or laugh and cry with so many adults, or work and play in partnership with the world-class Crow Collection of Asian Art, or feel so at-home knowing that I am the perpetual student in my own OHMazing™ Journeys.....

Meredith Paterson views and discusses art in the museum.

To each of you—my teachers—I extend from my heart gratitude-filled light and love. Whether we are already friends or friends yet to meet, I honor you and your patience, laughter, smiles, hugs, and knowledge that we are "all in this together". 

What are some of your journeys, expected or unexpected? Take a moment. Close your eyes or 
 burst out in laughter or tears and reflect and respond to your unfolding path .....................

Share your journeys with us in the comments below, and we will enter you into a drawing to win a free DVD!