Mucho Joga - While the Adventure Lasts

In Spanish, the “y” is pronounced almost like a “j,” so, for example, Joe (yo, for I) is almost always up to something. So when I arrived at this resort of thatched-roof cabanas on the beach on the north shore of the Dominican Republic, I was shown the “joga studio.” Now that the rest of the group for the joga retreat are here, there has been mucho joga. Given that I don’t think I’ve ever done an intensive yoga practice two days in a row, ever, I am already wiped out. And we have four more days to go!

Courtyard at the resort.

I am here with a group of 18 women I’ve never met before. Today we had a “get-to-know-you” session in which we had to pair up with someone we don’t already know. Well, that was easy for me!

I guess some might find it tempting when travelling like this to invent a different persona. But I would be terrible at that. I can’t act. I can’t lie. I can’t be anything other than I am. The thing about traveling alone that I find the most interesting is that I am not only myself; I am also my best self. I am more patient, a better listener, less anxious, more tolerant. All the things I wish I were all the time.

I was reading a book about journaling, Journal to the Self (I love that the author refers to journaling as “the 79-cent therapist” — the price of a notebook). One suggestion to jump-start one’s writing is to write in the form of a dialogue — perhaps with your childhood self, a long-lost loved one, even the chair or table. I dialogued with my best self. I asked her why she doesn’t come around more often. She asked me what I would like her to do if she did. Well, that was quite a conversation! (Especially when my worst self decided to chime in.)

All the women here have a desire to find their best selves, but also to accept and love every part of themselves, not just the best parts. I do, too.

Now a little about the D.R. I do feel at ease here on this island. It is not too hot, too sunny, too rainy, too crowded. It has a little of all those things, but all in the right proportions. I felt a certain “ease” here immediately, a sense not that I had just traveled so far, but rather that I had arrived. The people — the Dominicans — are friendly, generous, interested. The Americans are, too.

Joga has just ended. Meditation begins soon….

The view from the joga studio