Namaste

Ernst left this morning. The week felt like a vacation, as all I did was play. The emails and the dust bunnies accumulated while we were hiking, chatting, having fun. I am enjoying this rhythm: a few days playing and catching up with a friend followed by a few days of time to catch up with myself, and before I am feeling lonely, the next visitors arrive. All visits share commonalities, the hiking, the complaining about the bad weather, the meals enjoyed with good conversation. At the same time, each guest is different, leading to different dynamics. It's never boring, it's always a pleasure to not only rediscover my friends, but also to get to know them better. The scene at the Zuoz train station keeps on repeating itself, with my departing guests thanking me, and me feeling that I am the one who needs to thanks for the always enriching days.

Ernst's visit was very much like all others with respect to the weather and the expectations I had for hiking versus the reality. The weather was dismal on the day he arrived, and on Tuesday the snowline was once again way below the tree line, thus precluding any high elevation hiking. It stayed very cold the whole day and as a result very little snow melted until Wednesday. On Wednesday we made adjustments with a relatively low elevation hike to the National Park, and yesterday, finally on his last day, all snow being again gone, we did the proverbial high elevation hike with the expected views of the glaciers. And just like my others visitors, he was a good sport, seemingly satisfied with the less interesting walks we took on the bad weather days.

The season is turning. The snow has brought the animals closer to the valley floor, which resulted in spectacular sightings in the National Park. Through my open window I hear cowbells, as they have brought the livestock back down from the alps to graze in the fields around town. Two days ago was the opening day of the hunting season - a huge deal here. Once in a while we heard shots while hiking, but I definitely don't feel as threatened as during hunting season in Oregon. The positive upshot for non hunters is the appearing of venison on the restaurant menus and last night Ernst treated me to the most delicious meal.

The exciting event of the week was Wednesday night's yoga class. No, alas, I did not find a yoga studio. However, I taught a class to some 15 ladies of the gym club, 14 of which had never been exposed to yoga before. Our instructor injured her knee last winter, even before my arrival. Ever since then, each week saw a scramble for a sub. Recently I was having coffee with a few members of the steering committee and they were discussing the need for more subs, the difficulty of finding any... when I timidly offered, in case they really were in a bind, to teach a yoga class. I clearly explained that I was not trained to do so, that I had never taught yoga and that in effect, I had no idea of what I was doing... but in their desperation they accepted. Since this is all done on a volunteer basis, I figured I was not really taking any risks. Moreover, I decided that this was going to be enjoyable and easy to give them a positive taste of yoga. No fire butt pose, no pretzel poses. The lack of props was a challenge: no blocks, blankets or straps. We had mats but they were too soft, too deep, offering poor support. I tried to give them a taste of a variety of poses, focusing on posture and breathing, leading them through stretches and partner poses, challenging them in combinations of movements in sun salutations and downward dog/plank/cobra suites. Shavasana, the final relaxation, was an interesting experience: 15 women lying in front of me, listening to my voice lead them into a state of total relaxation and oblivion, and then slowly bringing them back... It was very powerful. We ended with the traditional greeting, namaste... which then was followed by unexpected and generous applause by my yogini.


Pictures:

1. The woods are now full of mushrooms. I even found the chanterelles at my dad's secret location.
2. The village of Sent, near Scuol, out of which we did a hike into the Val Sinestra.
3. Elk grazing in the National Park. We saw over 100 elks, a number of ibex, 3 chamois, countless marmots.
4. On Alp Gruem, facing the Palu Glacier.