Yoga is more than just asanas. It’s a way of life.

My love for the outdoors started early in life while at science camp in the Santa Cruz mountains as our sixth grade class played and learned during field trips, studying things like lichen, fungi and of course, the coastal redwoods. But the deep love began after writing a paper on John Muir as part of an English assignment in middle school. This great naturalist and father of the National Park inspired me, through his writing and all of his actions to preserve our natural resources and planet, to get outside. Yosemite wouldn’t be here today if it were not for Mr. Muir, and the same goes for my own experiences in the wilderness there. His books on Yosemite sparked my desire to see this amazing place to “go inside while going outside”. I begged mom and dad to take us there. And they did. Summers were spent camping and hiking in the valley with El Capitan and Half Dome looking over us. As I got into my last few years of high school I started to take long hikes out of the valley to the tops of mountains and waterfalls like North Dome, Half Dome, Glacier Point, Yosemite and Nevada Falls. During some of these hikes I’d see the trail signs for a place called Clouds Rest, some 9 miles away from the valley, but didn’t ever really know what it was like. Over the years I learned it was a “must experience”, blessing one with a view from the heavens, a 360 of the Sierras, towering another 1000 feet above Half Dome. A few recent blogs sharing videos of the last part of the ascent they call The Spine made me wonder what I was getting myself into and added to the excitement (and fear) of it all. As I sat at the top looking down, I paused for a few moments away from the present and back to be with all of my beautiful memories over the years exploring The Yosemite, sometimes alone, many times with loved ones close to my heart. The countless stories over various phases of life made for a very long pause with smiles, laughter and tears. Made my soul feel real good. Thank you, you know who you are, most living, a few on to the next phase of the journey, for all that we shared while beholding the divine. Peace and Love.