The Community

I just returned from a yoga training with Rama Jyoti Vernon. I felt like this one was special. I have been studying with Rama since 2003 and this one is like the first time I studied with her. New openings happened and I felt deeper and deeper into the yantra of the pose. I felt like I was in a different dimension most of the time I was practicing. It is the breathe and the depth of the practice when the breathe is used like we use it. I also felt an overwelming sense of being okay. The community that Rama has created is unbelievable. There is such an open network of wonderful men and women. Natasha, Kristi, Ginny, Lalleshwari, Mira, and Shraddhasaggar. (We missed your presense Ruth and Kathleen.) These women are so lovely, and the new faces that I met. I felt so privileged to see them be inspired by Rama and her teachings like I have always been. I even appreciated the people of 4th avenue in downtown Tucson. They were pleasant and friendly. As we exited for our day of yoga, the people of the lovely Co-op Food Consipiracy was there to feed us. There was such beauty in the air of the training. Everything was magnified so much. The blue air looked cleaner. The clouds looked happier. Ahhhh, yoga.

Rama's Childhood

 Rama grew up in a normal household. That is really what she wanted in her teenage years, I have come to learn. Her father and mother were both pioneers in spreading the benefits of and practicing natural medicine. Her father was a chiropractor and fought to get licensing in the state of California. Her mother was a pyschic and practed reflexolgy. They both were so advanced in their healings. They were the original healers; the pure souls of health. Rama was exposed to these ways of being during her childhood. On Rama's Thursday night talk, she explained how she wanted to be normal. She wanted to have white bread like other girls and boys. She laughed when talking about it. She further explained how grateful she was to be born into her family. She feels so lucky to have chosen the parents that she had. As she was talking about her parents, you can visualize them and feel the love that only is between parents and children. I love to hear her talk about her parents. It is so honest and truthful. Everything Rama talks about comes from the deepest part of the universe. Her voice is always calm and steady and relaxed.

It is truly beautiful to be in the presence of Rama. When you are near her and listen to her speaking, you know that truth follows her lips. Every word and every gesture and every sparkle is truthful and beautiful. There are not many places you can go to these days where people speak truth. Rama has it in her veins, down deep in her breats and her root. She is Mother in every way.  She talked about that although she was in a natural household, she still got sick quite often. She did not feel well, and she knew something was missing. Her mother took her to her first yoga class. Rama's mother was a follower of Paramahansa Yogananda. She remembered thinking that she did not want or need to be there. The yoga teacher went to her and said that yes she needed to be there. She was so surprised that he was reading her thoughts. The experience certainly caught her attention.