Central Park Inspiration

I teach a weekly fitness class in Central Park on Saturday mornings. It's free, it starts at 10AM, it's the intenSati practice, and it's a commitment that brings me deep joy.

Today it was rainy and the ground was slick. We had a few options but as I tend to err on the side of caution with respect to working out on slippery surfaces, I opted out of teaching the usual class. Instead, I took my students on a Sati inspired walk through Central Park.

And it was wonderful!!

I gave the intenSati affirmations one at a time, inviting people to breathe and walk with the mantra. I looked for metaphors in the park and inspiration. For "I deepen my joy (JOY)" we paused to watch a pregnant woman with her husband (presumably) posing for photos with a professional photographer. Could you get more joyful than that? For "I relax into faith (FAITH)" I had my students walk and jog down various paths and then when they reached an end they turned around and came to the starting point. With faith, there is really no wrong path, no wrong way and you can always simply turn around and try a new road.

We stood beside the William Shakespeare statue during "My heart is grateful" while I started the prologue for Romeo and Juliet before realizing I didn't know beyond "In fair Verona where we lay our scene" so I stopped.

During the affirmation paired with STRENGTH which goes "I am following it" and refers to the plans we form on a daily basis to help reach our goals, we scaled a small hill. What better want to demonstrate strength than to hike an incline.

Then, in the strangest twist of faith, when we were deep into the park, I ran into none other than my boss! JUST as we were affirming "My needs are met. I help and give." I am an executive assistant so to see my helping and giving reflected back to me coincidentally was pretty astounding.

My students were smiling, happy and seeing the park and ideally, themselves, with fresh, CLEAR eyes. The beauty reflects their beauty. The energy fills them, the oxygen wakes up cells and the relaxation allows healing, stress relief --

Oh! One more part -- during "I am powerful (WILLPOWER)" we joined all the athletes who were jogging and biking in the park. We affirmed that we're athletes and part of this collective of people who are in their power. I asked "Are you afraid of your power?" and everybody answered NO.

We also paused by the flowers and admired their vibrant colors.

Photos to come (courtesy of my student, Norn)...

Peace,
Lindsay