Graduation. The rememberence.

Okay.  It's happened.  I'm back...and I'm certified.  Thank you all for your patience while I managed to slog out only the occasional update...it was such a demanding month and I have barely caught my breath.  I flew in late on Weds night and am just now starting to feel my feet on the ground.  But I am so so excited to start teaching, I can barely stand it.  I'm including here my post-graduation journal entry for your enjoyment...

(we are all doing the "wow" mudra, which Dana learned in China, and has been cracking us up with for days...)

  Friday, 8/13 - Graduation.

Beautiful.  We celebrated at a rooftop pool and accepted our diplomas at the end of a walkway made of beach towels stretching nearly to the edge of the pool.  It was a graduation-slash-baptism, which meant some of my fellow graduate-ees pulling off clothes and diving into the barely deep enough pool.  (Yeva's shimmy-off of her fitted button-down black dress to reveal a tasteful boy-shorts bikini underneath was so unbearably, unknowingly sexy that even the ladies were blushing.  Yeva is from Canada and she's 24 and a dancer and has one of those faces that just makes me melt.)  I, on the other hand, stuck my piggy toes in the pool and then declared, "I'll do it like the Christians!" took water in my hand and sprinkled it over my own head, at which Dana (the big boss) hollered out, "You're blessed! You're blessed!".

Then there were cupcakes eaten (vegan ones, and not so vegan ones), final exams looked at (I scored a 95%, though I still think I deserved a 97%...heh heh.)  Paul brought me 2 dozen red roses and dutifully stood off to the side as I raced around hugging and kissing every one, especially my girls--Ruth, with whom I have fallen into deep friendship love and only ever want to hold her hand and giggle at her, and Yeva (the beautiful), who has eyes that sparkle and crinkle so deliciously I just want to dive into them--Heather, who has the greatest crooked smile and who I will always remember for her deep deep hatred of all things Kundalini, and, Shani--crass, hilarious, soft-hearted and oft-misunderstood Shani--her friendship and study-buddy-ing was the thing that kept me sane and smiling throughout all of love skool.

I will miss my girls!

Then there were performances--all heartfelt, some practiced and some not, and Shani MC-ing off the cuff, which was all hilarious except for one joke about tabloids, which she was a bit miffed about after it got a less than enthusiastic response by the up-til-then boisterous crowd (though I reassured her that it just wasn't for the yoga audience and after all how else was she going to test out new material?).  I closed the whole evening with a call-and-response of my new favorite chant:

GURU BRAHMA,
GURU VISHNU,
GURU DEVO MAHESHWARAH
GURU SAAKSHAAT PARAM-BRAHMA,
TASMAI SHRI GURUVE NAMAH

which is basically a big ol' thank you to all the teachers in your life, especially the one within, and then topped it off with an english-only verse of my own creation, which gave specific thanks to the teachers at the Lotus.  And it seemed to draw us together for these last couple "timeless moments", about which Dana later complimented me on, citing my ability to create intimacy--music to my ears.  Especially from her--as she is frighteningly honest and alive, and any word from her (especially a complimentary one) is just...oh, sigh!

And then goodbyes, which were hard.

Very, very, very hard.

I have had the sweetest, deepest, most transformative month of my life (big words, I know...but true), and I can not wait to see what's next.