On this gorgeous early Spring morning, I felt a strong hunger to be in nature. As a mother of three young children and a small business owner, I rarely have the opportunity to traipse around in the woods by myself. But on this particular morning, I found myself with the unique opportunity to do just that; I seized the moment.
As I laced up my old hiking shoes, I reflected on the last time my feet wore them. How many months, even years, has it been? The frayed shoelaces and faintly-rusted lace holders show their age—I have not reciprocated the care to these shoes that they have shown me over the last 20 years. But nevertheless, the shoes still fit, and my feet felt right at home in them, just as they felt when I began my hike along the well-worn paths of the Natick Town Forest.
My first steps into my hike felt pedestrian. How could this tiny sliver of nature possibly transform me in any significant way, and on a Monday morning, no less? But step-by-step, I kept walking. I moved past the bubbling brook and went deeper into the woods, where the murmurs of suburbia started to muffle. Soon enough, I forgot how close I was to Route 9, and how many tasks I needed to tend to when I got back home. I noticed the new trail marks detailed on the trees, the cleared brush in the prairie, and the sounds of birds, squirrels, and other rustling creatures waking up from winter. For a moment, even brief, I went somewhere else. And that somewhere else is exactly where I needed to go.
When I think about Songa and Embody, I realize that this is the very magic we create. We don’t need to go deep into the woods, learn all kinds of complicated yoga poses, or have the fanciest art supplies to take us somewhere special and extra-ordinary. All we need is the time and space to let our imaginations wander and mingle with nature in a very tangible and open-ended way. Yoga, nature, art, and music are all merely means to an end: to engage in a soulful and lifelong practice of creativity.
I cannot wait to bring these special workshops to life again this spring and summer, and I so hope to have your amazing student join us on the journey.
