Danish 7/11 -- Vis, Croatia

Yoga retreats aren't all fun and games.

I feel like a Danish 7/11

On duty 24/7.

Always available to help out with all the little tasks. Odds and ends. Bits and bobs.

Just like Milda, Mario and Jurate. Goodness gracious, those people work so hard.

Domagoj doesn't seem to believe in helping out with bits and bobs. He prefers to nap in hammocks or  discuss the secrets of tantra.

But the rest of us are always available to answer all the little questions.

To put toilet paper in the bathrooms.

To wear our problem-solving, how-can-I-help-you hats. 

I teach yoga, teach meditation, socialize, set tables, take yoga, take out trash.

Sweep the studio.

Research, research, research what I'll do for my next class.

Girl be tired.

Two more days of this retreat... then a simple retreat with just a few people... then a whole week with just Mario and Milda and Jurate in Split.

Girl. Be. Tired.

My back hurts. The obscene amount of sitting done in Domagoj's class has destroyed my thoracic spine. It cracks like dried sticks, crunches like potato chips and creaks like the door to the dining room downstairs.

Back be sore.

Sitting in a "comfortable" seated position for at least three and a half hours a day (two hours of meditation + Domagoj's classes) has destroyed my kneecaps. They don't crack or crunch or creak, but they scream something awful.

Knees. Be. Sore.

Meditation went well this morning. I read, we healed, we sang, we sat.

We emptied.

Jurate and I have been playing with the meditation routine. Instead of presenting the group with one method of meditation and saying, "find a way to make it work for you," we're presenting the group with many variations and saying, "I hope you can find something that works for you."

Meditation through writing. 

Meditation through exploring the senses.

Meditation through drawing.

Meditation through lying down and being guided.

Meditation through quietly focusing on the breath.

Meditation through singing and connecting with others.

This will be our schedule for next week:

Sunday: 

Morning - Introductions all around in the morning

Evening - Circle ceremony, Vipasana (self-guided meditation), one thing out, one thing in

Monday: 

Morning - Vipasana, introduction to Mindfulness, mind dump (writing or drawing)

Evening - Vipasana, Mindfulness meditation, focus on sense of touch

Tuesday: 

Morning - Vipasana, Introduction to Loving Kindness, mind dump

Evening - Vipasana, Loving Kindness meditation, focus on sense of hearing

Wednesday: 

Morning - Healing circle with song, Vipasana, mind dump

Evening - Vipasana, Resistance meditation, focus on sense of smell

Thursday: 

Morning - Healing circle with song, Vipasana, mind dump

Evening - Vipasana, Forgiveness meditation, focus on sense of sight

Friday: 

Morning - Vipasana, mindful eating meditation, mind dump

Evening - Vipasana, focus on sense of taste (I will have them spend fifteen minutes eating a square of chocolate), closing circle ceremony

I was feeling overwhelmed in mind, spirit, knees and back. I wanted to go walking in the sun.

I skipped Domagoj's morning class and went walking in the rain. 

I'm writing inside an old abandoned building that I happened to chance upon on a previous walk.

Hiding from the rain. 

The dirt floor is covered by a clumpy bed of pine needles mixed with gravel. The dirt is dry. 

Birds insistently twitter in spite of the rain. A fly buzzes just as persistently (and 8 gazillion times as obnoxiously). 

The walls are copper and cream colored stone with layers of grey mortar in between. 

The ceiling is rotten plank beams of wood that look as if they could tumble down at any moment. 

So long as they kill that bloody fly while they're at it. 

It's raining harder.

The birds have stopped. 

The bloody fly carries on. 

Alone. 

Perhaps I'll continue my walk in the rain. 

Perhaps it'll turn into a walk in the sun.