July 25, 2014

The slow crawl up the coastline gets us into Fort Bragg and Pomo Beach campground. This is our first night camping rather than staying with my incredible friends. I start the fire while Pamela tends to the ELF. We want to keep her clean and tidy. Our goal today was Humboldt County to see my giggly friend Amanda. But end points and goals are rarely met. We text her that we will see her the next day, maybe around 1 or 2. Maybe.

We wake and Pamela meditates. Then we run. We find the Pomo Bluff, an incredible stretch of grey, silver, and brown cliffs. We park ELF and start our hike, we find a trail that pushes past hidden houses. We pass a trotting turkey and two sleeping deer. One wakes as we pass by, ready to flee if it has to. The trail winds down below the roads, it curves under green ivy and blackberry bushes. It breaks and expands onto an incredible beach. Pamela strips her clothes and runs into the Pacific Ocean, knowing this might be her last chance to swim in it.

I get on the phone with my friend Antonia, to talk house logistics. I check in about my sweet cat Gracie. She’s hissing at Antonia’s other cats, probably sparring over territory and attention. Pamela and I make our way back up to the bluffs. We grab our yoga mats and find a spot next to the edge. A family of seals down below call to one another, their heads bobbing up and down. Waves break against the rock. A boat horn blows. A bird calls. This is the symphony of sound we hear as we breathe into our yoga practice. I bow my body in gratitude, humbled to be a part of this moment.

Our daily practice:
Pamela meditates each morning. I write while she sits. My writing is my meditation these days. And because I am doing the driving on this trip, I don’t have any other time to write. After morning meditations, we run or hike for 30-45 minutes. Then we practice yoga for thirty minutes. After, we hit the road. I appreciate the repetition, the practice, the taking care of the body.

In the churning of no expectation, no place to live—home free, this taking care of the body has become most important. This body is my temple. This body is my home. I have to be kind to it, grateful for it and treat it with great organic food, exercise and meditation. When we feel chaotic, alone, emotionally distraught, it’s easy to treat our bodies poorly as a reflection of this emotional space. We may drink more, eat junk food, and/or binge on grease and salt. It’s easy to forget about exercise, to make excuses and to put it off. But these decisions will only negatively impact our bodies, which will then reciprocally impact our emotional and mindful states. It’s a spiral of destruction that is difficult to break out of once you get on that path. And I have been on that spiral, swimming against my own will to create wellness.

So I make a conscious effort on this trip and every day, to remember that my body and my mind are intimately connected, whole, they are not separate entities. And I must take care of both of them to lead an exceptional life.