Kim and I used to be pretty dedicated yoga practitioners before Bodhi was born. We would go to a formal class at least once a week and do some yoga practice daily. We loved going down to Kaimana Beach at sunset and practice asanas, yoga poses, with a class that our Naturopaths ran. I really liked the way the breezes would blow down from Mänoa Valley and rustle the coconut palms overhead as we lay in the corpse pose at the end of the yoga practice. That was, perhaps, one of my favorite poses. For me it was easy, just lie on my back with my eyes closed.
It seems recently most of the poses we practice deal with things like forward bends. We have the pick up Bodhi's toys-asana, lift me up over your head daddy so I can feel like I'm flying-asana, can you crouch under the sofa and find my train-asana, and let me ride you like a horse-asana. There's a lot of back bending going on with us these days too. One of the harder poses for me was the bridge pose. I wasn't quite flexible enough to do it well. It starts with lying on your back and arching your pelvis upwards to the sky. I mentioned to Kim recently, that we sure do bend over backwards for Bodhi. No regrets from me. Sometimes I look at my sweetie boy's face and know that I would drag my naked ass for miles across shards of glass for him.
Luckily for me, today I only had to drive for miles. Kim had been looking for a Thomas Train Set on Craigslist for months. A couple nights ago, she finally found one and it was a great deal. The person selling the set lives in Kona and we are on the Hilo side. It's about a two hour drive one way. The seller said he'd be willing to meet us in Waimea which is about an hour from Hilo and an hour an a half from Bodhi's school. Now, these driving distances may seem small to mainlanders, but for Hawaii people it's like going to the moon.
Kim and I decided to make a day of it. We dropped Bodhi off at school and headed out to Waimea. We took Saddle Road, which is the road that sits in between the mountains, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. The drive was absolutely beautiful. The sky was so clear, we could see the top of Mauna Kea to our right and to our left was Mauna Loa. The landscape on the drive goes from deep, rich, lush, tropical rain forest, to an open plain of desert land, to green, rolling, hilly, pasture land, dotted with cattle and horses. The stereo played songs we could sing to as we whipped around the winding road. It was fun.
We got into Waimea with enough time to walk around a bit before we needed to meet the seller. When we got out of the car we were greeted by the wonderful chilly air Waimea's higher altitude offers. As it happens, the seller was there early too and so we got the deal done earlier. It was easy to recognize the guy. He gave Kim a description of himself over the phone that went something like this, "I look like Mr. Clean with glasses, a black tank top, and tattoos on my shoulders." I felt very cool and a little deviant passing cash to this guy at his car with his trunk popped open in broad daylight.
After loading the train set into our car, Kim and I got to walk around the town. We stopped in a few shops and got to browse around an antique store. We topped our time off there with a tremendously great lunch at Huli Sue's. WOW! If any of you are ever in Waimea, Huli Sue's is a must stop. The food was so good, Kim and I couldn't stop moaning and laughing with pleasure.
Over lunch we had a discussion about how much we bend over backwards for Bodhi. And I have to admit there is still a part of me that poses that old WIIFM question, what's in it for me? Kim is really good at gently straightening me out. She acknowledged that we do a lot for Bodhi, but she asked me to look at how much richer our lives are because of him. On the surface level alone, we had this fabulous day in Waimea because we were running an errand for him. The majority of our closest friends are the result of child related activities. And going a little deeper, he really, really, makes us look at ourselves. He truly is our little Bodhisattva.
So yes, we do bend over backwards for him. From a yoga perspective the back bends are actually really good at calming one's nervous system. And according BKS Iyengar, back bends give energy, courage, and combat depression. I can really see how stretching myself to serve another really does boost my energy, gives me heart and makes me less self absorbed. What a good payoff.
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