The Reflection Pond

I've been running early in the morning here in Bishop.  I get up at 5:30 Am and run in the cool predawn.  At the end of my run I go to the large park next to the campground and sit by the pond.  At 7 AM the light is just right to create a clear reflection of the trees and mountains on the water.  As I watch the reflection I think of that shop-worn yogic saying that goes like this: When the mind becomes still the reflection of our truth and beauty can be seen clearly in our lives.  But when the mind is turbulent, there is distortion that causes wrong thinking and suffering. 

As I sat and watched the fantastic reflection on this pond, I could feel the wisdom of that tidbit like never before.  I could feel the calm stillness that comes from releasing the turbulence of old stories, worries, judgments and fears.  The lake of the mind can be stilled with practice.  Our yoga offers us a place to do that; to repeatedly clear agitations.  I think of the serenity on your faces when you come up from savasana and I know your mind is like the calm of the pond pictured here.  And in the stillness of its surface you can see your own beauty - the fullness of your lives - more clearly.  I love you all so much and am eager to be with you again.