The Teaching Team

onthemat • April 13, 2016

If you are reading this entry, it means that I haven’t had wifi since I arrived at the Monastery on the 11th, which was the night of the 10th for you. So, until I can bring you into the retreat, via text and photo, I’ll give you some more background. This all came about because […]

If you are reading this entry, it means that I haven’t had wifi since I arrived at the Monastery on the 11th, which was the night of the 10th for you. So, until I can bring you into the retreat, via text and photo, I’ll give you some more background.

This all came about because of Marni, who you can find more about at  Omandroam.com. Marni grew up in Burma until she was a teenager when she moved to Indonesia, and then Hawaii. She is half Burmese and half Irish/Scottish. A wonderful combination, for sure! She’s spent quite a bit of time with her Aunties and cousins over the years, and her Auntie Emerald introduced her to the head nun in the monastery a few years ago. A very intuitive, yet stern woman, Sadieh’s given Marni wise advise throughout her life, even telling her two years ago that it was time to make some major changes. One of those come to Jesus moments, or I suppose, come to Buddha here in Burma.

When Marni came back to visit in December, her Auntie took her to see Sadieh, to check in and Marni told her about the changes including quitting her corporate job, becoming a yoga instructor, and leading spiritual tours to swim with dolphins on the Big Island of Hawaii. In return, Sadieh requested, in a very commanding manner, that Marni come teach the nuns yoga during the annual retreat of Water Festival. Marni asked, “Have they ever done yoga?” Sadieh replied, “No.” And that’s basically all we know.

Marni met Wendy and Carly in a similar serendipitous way as she met me! She connected with Wendy of  www.wmyoga.com/  at the Yoga Journal Conference in San Francisco when they discovered they both ran yoga retreats in Hawaii. She arrives tomorrow am, off a long Red Eye flight from SF, on the way to the monastery. I dare say, arriving without time to acclimate would NOT have worked for me. I felt very lucky to have a couple of days to adjust my time clock.

Carly is getting her Masters in Yoga Philosophy at Loyola Marymount in LA, and she actually plans to finish her thesis, and prepare for her presentation on April 27, while we are off duty from teaching yoga! Apparently we will have time for study during the retreat. Yes. I have books and laptop, but there will be no time for digital distraction with no Internet!

So who knows what we’re headed into. It’s 7 full days, and I’m going to negotiate to be “let out” at least once to post and check in with family, but it’s a real retreat… filled with austere conditions I’m suspecting… No wine, nor chocolate, but I’m sneaking in my Starbucks instant coffee.

Until I’m plugged in again, enjoy the temperate temperatures of Concord in April. It was 103 today! And sleeves with knees covered here…

On The Mat Yoga Blog

Heart~ Day #7 (Week #4)

By Linda Malcomb • May 3, 2020
“There is a light in the core of our being that calls us home—one that can only be seen with closed eyes; We can feel it as a radiance in the center of our chest. This light of loving awareness is always here, regardless of our conditioning. It does not matter how many dark paths we have traveled or how many wounds we have inflicted or sustained as we have unknowingly stumbled toward this inner radiance. It does not matter how long we have sleepwalked, seduced by our desires and fears. This call persists until it is answered, until we surrender to who we really are. When we do, we feel ourselves at home wherever we are. A hidden beauty reveals itself in our ordinary life. As the true nature of our Deep Hear is unveiled, we feel increasingly grateful for no reason—grateful to simply be.” —John J. Prendergast, PHD, The Deep Heart

SUN!~ Day #6 (Week #4)

By Linda Malcomb • May 2, 2020
Seems like it’s been rainy, windy, dreary for eons. Which may have helped us shelter inside a bit more. I remember reading years and years ago in a Seth book that weather can be influenced, and even created by mass human emotion. Why not? We are far more powerful than we currently acknowledge, and science is beginning to validate many phenomena that had seemed inconceivable before. Those seemingly endless days of “bad” weather seemed congruent with the emotional tone of covid her in New England. And now SUN! Glorious, warming, invigorating, hope-filled Sun! Today I will be outside basking and gardening and thanking. And I’m sure the whole neighborhood, and most of New England will go outside, stand with our faces to the sun and breathe a huge healing breath of joy. And maybe the collective energy of that will resonate out across the word as a promise of brighter days to come.
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