Stories of Woodstock
Spring 2007
This spring I lived for two months (April-May) adjacent to the 300,000 acre mountain forest preserves of New York’s Catskill Park (near Woodstock). On several occasions I observed adult black bears visiting the house. When the weather warmed enough the mother bear showed her triplet cubs!
During a hike to the top of the nearby mountain overlooking a reservoir, we saw 3 mature bald eagles. Two eagles seemed to be establishing their territory by driving off a third eagle with precision flying tactics accompanied by loud clucks & shrieks. The third eagle did not retreat easily; the excersises passed across our field of view several times, twice below our vantgage point as we looked down upon them from a rock outcrop, then again amazingly at our eye level just a few yards away, again directly overhead, and lastly we had a long sweeping view as the lone eagle tracked away across the reservoir. She would have been invisible in the growing distance but for the brilliant white flashes of her snow-white tail and head contrasting against the dark green forest below. It seemed we could follow her up to a mile this way.
That beautiful place where I was living, working, and studying for two months is the home of David Life and Sharon Gannon (founders of Jivamukti Yoga School). Through their dinner-time stories, the example of their lives and hard work, their counsel and constructive honest feedback they’ve illuminated many opportunities for me to improve my teaching in areas I might never have reached on my own. It’s been a humbling and invaluable experience to live among these master teachers.
That experience alone was priceless, but I had the added privilege to study for 10 days at a special conference in NYC with Richard Freeman, Rodney Yee, Colleen Saidman, Gary Kraftsow, and Mary Dunn.
After a great family visit in Arkansas, I have now arrived in Europe beginning my third year teaching yoga in Europe.
