Puzzling it Out

One of the really beautiful things about yoga for me, is that it makes everything into a metaphor for life:

-Increase your flexibility in a pose... increase the flexibility of your mind and your ability to accept impermanence.

-Focus on alignment of your bones and muscles in class... have an insight about the alignment of your values, thoughts and actions in life.

On January 1st I started a 2,000-piece puzzle of Van Gogh's Cafe Terrace at Night

I also spent time (since it was the beginning of the new year) setting goals and intentions, and generally putting pressure on myself to know what I need to be doing; the next steps in my life.

The irony of that hit me as I was trying to fall asleep one night, and visions of puzzle pieces danced in my head.

So you have a puzzle, and you have a general idea of what it's going to look like, but it only gets revealed one piece at a time. Sections become clear bit by bit, and you simply have to trust that all the pieces will fit together eventually to make a beautiful picture.

So relax Ali :)

"Let go of the life you imagined, to live the life that is waiting for you."

- Joseph Campbell

Bakerista

As I've mentioned, my "new" (January) Seva is in the bakery, and I so so love working there.

Cooking and baking are two of my great creative loves, and I don't think I even realized how much I missed them until I got into the bakery and started creating again.

It makes me so happy; I have a new energy, a spring in my step, and feel like I'm in a beautiful flow of creativity. People have actually told me I look different!

I work 8-4, five days a week, but it doesn't even really feel like work. I leave with more energy than I went in with. We have a really nice space to work in with a gorgeous wooden table to work bread on, a giant oven, and a giant mixer...

My supervisor Hedley is awesome and lets me and River (the other volunteer baker - see above with handfuls of icing) experiment when our regular work is done. I've been having a lot of fun making vegan, raw and gluten-free stuff, and generally being creative.

The only thing that's hard about the bakery is the list. We have a list of things to do each day, and you'd think that would be nice for my brain, but Hedley likes to mess with me by crossing things off the list while I'm doing them! UNacceptable! We have an ongoing competition to sneakily cross off the other's work before they get a chance.

Overall, I'm learning a lot about bread and pastry and even find it easy not to eat too much sugar or gluten while I'm working. Sunday marked the end of my sugar- & gluten-free month and it went really well (lost another 10 lbs! geez) I noticed a distinct evenness in the quality and quantity of my energy throughout the month and feel really healthy and happy here at Kripalu.

Next: Why Life is a Puzzle

And then: So You Want to be a Kripalu Volunteer?