2 hours ago

"Everything in your life is there as a vehicle for your transformation. Use it!" ~Ram Dass

This quote from Ram Dass puts everything in perspective! When we view everything in our lives as an opportunity to learn something about ourselves we act from a place of equanimity.... embrace everything life gives you.  

Yesterday I happened to see a program on PBS that touched me deeply called "Trial by Fire". It's about burn victims and their lives after their body has healed. The people on the program had suffered some of the most horrific pain imaginable and through the process they realized an important lesson in life .... rather than focusing and defining themselves on what happened to them, they celebrate that they are alive. You are alive ....... don't take that for granted.

I'm having a wonderful adventure, so much to be grateful for......

Love the multitude of chickens here.....

 I think this guys likes me.  He keeps following me around.....chickens are everywhere on the island!  I love being awakened by their crowing at the crack of dawn each morning.  What a wonderful alarm cock :-)

 Organic fruits and vegetables are plentiful.

Fresh from the market today was organic celery, grapes, mango and a red bell pepper.....all for just $37.53!   Seriously....I'm eating well.

Neighbors share their bounty with us...leaving us banana's, avocado's (lots of huge avo's), oranges, limes, lemons, etc on my doorstep...love that!

One brought me organic tofu yesterday :-)

We rarely eat out, love to prepare our meals at the house and watch the sunset over Hanalei Bay.

Outside the Kauai Pilates studio there's a beautiful pond filled with lotus flowers....a reminder each time I step inside of the beauty that surrounds me.

The women in Pilates and yoga classes here are a lot of fun...I've made many new friends.

Thankful that hurricane Ana skirted the island last weekend. That was the 3rd hurricane scare we've had since we arrived. The waves were incredible....couldn't believe my eyes when I spotted surfers out in the ocean......!

This picture is from 2005 Dahlonega Yoga Retreat!  You might recognize some of those faces.....Yep, that's Paulette Lapham in a handstand in the park in downtown Dahlonega!   We will be returning to Dahlonega in August 2015 for our next retreat!  If you'd like information, please contact me at rhondamhelms@gmail.com.

Remember not to take anything too personal.  Everyone is doing the best that they can...forgive easily, love wholeheartedly and speak softly.

With peace,

Rhonda

Rainbow spotted on my way to the grocery store :-)   Ahhh

Aloha
....I hope this blog finds you all happy & filled with peace.  It's been a while since I checked in with all of you.... thanks for the nudge Cynthia!   

The month of August in Athens, Georgia flew by so fast.  In the midst of it I had the sweet opportunity to go to my of my favorite places for a week....Kripalu Yoga Center in Lenox, Massachusetts for a 5  day retreat with Richard Miller, the founder of IRest....(yoga nidra or deep yogic relaxation) and a weekend with Joan Borysenko and Karen Drucker.   It was deeply satisfying in so many ways.....

...the entrance to Kripalu

Fall had already begun in the Berkshires.

We are all doing the best we can in this moment.

There are sweet signs like this in the stairwells at Kripalu.

Walking the grounds is a meditation.

Ganesha, the remover of obstacles

 The weekend with Joan Borysenko & Karen Drucker was a "Women's Spiritual Retreat" that was laced with humor, spirituality, inspiring stories, Joan's most recent research on women's health and the beautiful music of Karen Drucker.  If you've never heard of Karen, I encourage you to google her and listen to some of her music....it's beautiful.

Karen Drucker and Joan Borysenko

The week with Richard Miller was spent mostly in meditation, gazing, breathing....just being.



After a week at Kripalu, I felt like I floated back to Athens (I think there was a plane involved....I felt so light of heart, mind and body.  Just 4 days later we left for Kauai (9/4).....and landed in this beautiful spot on the island.  We are in a home near Hanalei Bay on the North Shore.    

Hanalei Bay, just down the street from our house.

Kauai is a special place.    Stepping off the plane you automatically feel a sense of release....of letting go... surrender.  There's no hurry, no place to go, nothing important to do....... everyone you meet is relaxed and seemingly attuned to the rhythm of the nature that surrounds them.         

I love the connections I've made here with the yoga community, a meditation group and a pilates studio. Wonderful energy, sweet spirits....all on their own journeys...........

   I feel like I've landed right smack dab in the middle of paradise and I think I'm gonna rest here a while....snorkeling, hiking & sitting on the beach to read good books.

 This week we hiked the Kalalau Trail up the Na Pali Coast.  The tropical foliage was beautiful and the bamboo forests were huge.  This photo was taken in one of them.  I have never seen such huge bamboo.   Hiked up to a water fall that cascaded at least 1000 feet and swam in the turquoise pool at the bottom.

At the end of the trail, thanking God that we made it....a grueling 8 mile hike.....we were both exhausted.

What are you grateful for?  I'd love to hear from you.

Malu (Peace in Hawaiian)
Rhonda

Isn't it funny....
how much more you appreciate things after they are gone and life has moved on?   I've been missing my friends, yoga peeps and life back home....and reminiscing about how much joy the routine parts of my life brought me.   Joe would love to hear me say this because he loves routine... I, on the other hand, avoid it when possible.

I think I'm just having a "poor pitiful me" moment.....as Nancy Lopez said (more on this later) so eloquently when I met her recently...."when anyone complains about their golf game I just look at them and say "whah, whah, whah"..... you have the privilege, the free time, the funds, etc to be out here playing this sport...stop whining".      And so I'll stop my whining about missing all of you.

We had a glorious month in Colorado....many friends visited us in the mountains.  Some of you may remember Judy and Mike McDonald from Yoga Class at Sam's many years ago.  They live in Boulder and always come for a visit and a hike.    

One of our favorite hikes in Summit County is to the top of the Eisenhower Tunnel.  Our friend Cindy Gray from The Woodlands joined us on the hike.  You feel like you're on top of the world up there at 12,000ft elevation.  It's above tree line so the 360 degree views are stunning.

                                                    The week before we left Colorado my beautiful niece Haili Ferrino flew to Denver to join us on the trip to Georgia.


Hail & I racked up lots of miles on our bikes
before we left the mountains.....she has been great company!  I love that sweet girl.  There's nothing more refreshing than being with a teenager for a couple of weeks!


We rode down from the top of Vail Pass one day ....what an experience :-)
 It's the same ride we took on the yoga retreat
a few years ago.




I love when wonderful things happen very unexpectedly.    I was playing golf one day with the ladies group at Keystone and the pro came out to tell us Nancy Lopez just called and she wanted to offer us a free clinic the following day.  She has a home in Keystone and visits there often in the summer. What a treat!   She spent a couple of hours with a small group of us the following day.  She has a wicked sense of humor..... not only did I have some great laughs but I got some good golf tips :-) and of course had to take a 'selfie' with my new best friend :-)

 The yoga community in Summit County is wonderful.   Mary Pat Cropper has been teaching there for many years and I've been a student and follower of her teaching for over 15 years.  Each summer I attend her classes while we are in the mountains and I'm always sad to leave this yoga community when we go.  On the last day of class we took this photo for the blog...... thanks for always welcoming me back into your yoga community with open arms!

Joe, Haili and I  left Colorado on Sunday, July 20th on our way to Georgia.   Along the way, we had some fun...stopped in St. Louis to view the arch, then on the Paducah, KY.  In Paducah we had our first AirBNB experience.   Stayed in a renovated artists studio loft near the downtown arts district.   The artist and her husband lived upstairs and our rooms opened into the art studio.  She and her husband attended college and lived in Hawaii for many years.....we are getting excited about the next leg of our trip to Kauai now.
The Grand Ole Opry was awesome.   We enjoyed the music and the excitement of the evening.  
I googled "things to do in Nashville" and found something called "The Great Escape".   All the reviewers raved about it, so of course, I got tickets for Haili and me.
What an experience!   We were locked in a small room with 5 other people, given minimum instructions....like don't climb and told to find our way out.  It took us almost an hour to get out.....it was so much fun.  We ended up breaking the codes getting into room after room by working out clues.  Here are our partners, who helped us escape....

We are all moved into our town home in Athens, Georgia now.  It's located in downtown Athens adjacent to the University of Georgia and right in the middle of a multitude of fraternity and sorority houses.  The next few weeks is going to be interesting :-)

Our place is small and lovely....homey.  Have you seen the documentary 'Tiny:  A Story About Living Small'?    It's on Netflix.... it's thought provoking.   Watch it if you have the opportunity.

I've read a couple of books along the way, some good, some not so good.  I'm reading 'The 5 Love Languages' now.   Lots of wisdom on relationships...perfect timing since I'm spending loads more time with my husband these days.

Haili flew home last Wednesday.  I thought I was going to cry as I realize she is the closest I'll ever come to having a child....my sisters daughter.  Spending time with nieces and nephews over the years has given me a glimpse of what I've missed not having children.  As with all things, it's a mixed bag - yin/yang.

Before she left Georgia we did have some fun climbing.   

I was a bit concerned I might hurt myself but it didn't stop me.

This week is Joe's big birthday.   His brother Bruce lives here in Athens.  We've invited friends & family to join us for dinner at Bruce's home.  Joe will be surrounded by all the people he loves most in the world....what more could one want on their special day.

Love to all of you......I'll be in touch soon.

She Let Go

She let go.

She let go. Without a thought or a word, she let go.

She let go of the fear.

She let go of the judgments.

She let go of the confluence of opinions swarming around her head.

She let go of the committee of indecision within her.

She let go of all the ‘right’ reasons.

Wholly and completely, without hesitation or worry, she just let go.

She didn’t ask anyone for advice.

She didn’t read a book on how to let go.

She didn’t search the scriptures.

She just let go.

She let go of all of the memories that held her back.

She let go of all of the anxiety that kept her from moving forward.

She let go of the planning and all of the calculations about how to do it just right.

She didn’t promise to let go.

She didn’t journal about it.

She didn’t write the projected date in her Day-Timer.

She made no public announcement and put no ad in the paper.

She didn’t check the weather report or read her daily horoscope.

She just let go.

She didn’t analyze whether she should let go.

She didn’t call her friends to discuss the matter.

She didn’t do a five-step Spiritual Mind Treatment.

She didn’t call the prayer line.

She didn’t utter one word.

She just let go.

No one was around when it happened.

There was no applause or congratulations.

No one thanked her or praised her.

No one noticed a thing.

Like a leaf falling from a tree, she just let go.

There was no effort.

There was no struggle.

It wasn’t good and it wasn’t bad.

It was what it was, and it is just that.

In the space of letting go, she let it all be.

A small smile came over her face.

A light breeze blew through her. And the sun and the moon shone forevermore…

~ Rev. Safire Rose







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Location:Kansas City MO

Along with hiking and biking I've been playing golf here in the mountains.  Love these mountain courses and have enjoyed playing with the Ladies Golf Group at Keystone.
On Friday, I got to meet Nancy Lopez at a clinic she offered at Keystone.  She has a home here and when she's in town she offers free clinics.  She is to women's golf what Arnold Palmer is to mens golf.  She was humorous, warm, entertaining and authentic.....what a sweet serendipitous surprise it was to meet her.

And of course, I couldn't resist taking a "selfie" with her!

We gathered at our place for dinner with our friends from Summit County.....Bill, Michele, Trudy and Marsha and our friends Cindy, Steve and Kevin Gray from The Woodlands joined us.  

Life is good and having wonderful friends makes it so much sweeter!   I miss all my peeps in Texas and hope you are all happy and well.
Peace,
Rhonda

Some of you asked for more photo's of Kathy's place.  The pic above is a Victorian home which sits next door to her adobe home. Sitting on her porch watching the world go by is so soothing.

Her front porch is full of color, plants, insects, animals, scents and sounds.....and love.

I promised to tell you about Bozo, why he's following me around on my travels.......here's the story taken from Elizabeth Lessers book "Broken Open".

We're all bozos on the bus,
so we might as well sit back
and enjoy the ride.
-Wavy Gravy

One of my heroes is the clown-activist, Wavy Gravy. He is best known for a role that he played in 1969, when he was the master of ceremonies at the Woodstock festival. Since then, he's been a social activist, a major "fun-d" raiser for good causes, a Ben and Jerry's ice cream flavor, an unofficial hospital chaplain, and the founder of a children's camp for inner city kids. Every four years he campaigns as a candidate for president of the United States, under the pseudonym of Nobody, making speeches all over the country, with slogans like "Nobody for President," "Nobody's Perfect," and "Nobody Should Have That Much Power." He's a seriously funny person, and a person who is serious about helping others. "Like the best of clowns," wrote a reporter in The Village Voice, "Wavy Gravy makes a big fool of himself as is necessary to make a wiser man of you. He is one of the better people on earth."

Wavy (I'm on a first-name basis with him from clown workshops he's offered at Omega) is a master of one-liners, like the famous one he delivered on the Woodstock stage: "What we have in mind is breakfast in bed for 400,000;" and this one, on why he became a clown: "You don't hear a bunch of bullies get together and say 'Hey, let's go kill a few clowns.'"

But my all-time favorite Wavy-ism is the line above about Bozos on the bus, one he repeats whenever he speaks to groups, whether at a clown workshop or in a children's hospital. I have co-opted the phrase and I use it to begin my workshops, because I believe that we are all bozos on the bus, contrary to the self-assured image we work so hard to present to each other on a daily basis. We are all half-baked experiments-mistake-prone beings, born without an instruction book into a complex world. None of us are models of perfect behavior: We have all betrayed and been betrayed; we've been known to be egotistical, unreliable, lethargic, and stingy; and each one of us has, at times, awakened in the middle of the night worrying about everything from money to kids to terrorism to wrinkled skin and receding hairlines. In other words, we're all bozos on the bus.

This, in my opinion, is cause for celebration. If we're all bozos, then for God's sakes, we can put down the burden of pretense and get on with being bozos. We can approach the problems that visit bozo-type beings without the usual embarrassment and resistance. It is so much more effective to work on our rough edges with a light and forgiving heart. Imagine how freeing it would be to take a more compassionate and comedic view of the human condition - not as a way to deny our defects-but as a way of welcoming them as part of the standard human operating system. Every single person on this bus called Earth hurts; it's when we have shame about our failings that hurt turns into suffering. In our shame, we feel an outcast, as if there is another bus somewhere, rolling along on a smooth road. Its passengers are all thin, healthy, happy, well-dressed and well-liked people who belong to harmonious families, hold jobs that never bore or aggravate them, and never do mean things, or goofy things like forget where they parked their car, lose their wallet, or say something totally inappropriate. We long to be on that bus with the other normal people.

But we are on the bus that says BOZO on the front, and we worry that we may be the only passenger on board. This is the illusion that so many of us labor under- that we're all alone in our weirdness and our uncertainty; that we may be the most lost person on the highway. Of course we don't always feel like this. Sometimes a wave of self-forgiveness washes over us, and suddenly we're connected to our fellow humans; suddenly we belong.

It is wonderful to take your place on the bus with the other bozos. It may be the first step to enlightenment to understand with all of your brain cells that the other bus - that sleek bus with the cool people who know where they are going - is also filled with bozos - bozos in drag; bozos with a secret. When we see clearly that every single human being, regardless of fame or fortune or age or brains or beauty, shares the same ordinary foibles, a strange thing happens. We begin to cheer up, to loosen up, and we become as buoyant as those people we imagined on the other bus. As we rumble along the potholed road, lost as ever, through the valleys and over the hills, we find ourselves among friends. We sit back, and enjoy the ride.

Bozo is on the trip with me to help me to remember to just sit back and enjoy the ride!

Peace,

Rhonda 

Another day in sunny Colorado

The mountains are still dusted with snow. Breckenridge is in the background. We rode this trail on the 2013 Yoga Retreat☀️


Posted

Onward to Colorado

On the road at last.  

As promised I'm going to try to keep this blog going while we are on our journey.

I'm not much of a computer person so the learning curve has been steep...so please bear with me!   Thank goodness spell check works on blogging :-)

The blog is named after a favorite sanskrit word "Santosha" which means 'contentment'.   Everywhere you look these days you see ads on seeking happiness... I think I'd rather be content than happy.   We can be content even when things are not going the way we want them to, or even when life has thrown us an unexpected curve ball.  Contentment doesn't depend on circumstances (like happiness often does), it's a frame of mind.  

 Did anyone spot Bozo on the bike?  He is following me to remind me that we are all Bozo's on the bus (story to follow, if you haven't heard the Bozo story).

Left The Woodlands Thursday headed for Maryneal Texas to spend the night with Kathy Dickson on her beautiful ranch. 

Communed with wild turkeys, a snake, family of raccoons and beautiful baby birds in flight school while on the ranch....and lots of other wild things!  It's invigorating to be in nature.

Sweet Kathy Dickson, friend, confidante and wonderful human being!

Onward to Salida, Colorado via Taos, New Mexico.  In Taos visited the Mabel Dodge Luhan house as a possible location for our next yoga retreat in 2015.   Mabel was quite a woman!

Salida is one of my favorite places to visit.  The Arkansas River runs right through the historic small town.  My yoga friend Jane Carpenter lives and teaches yoga in Salida.  She and her partner Jim treated us to a room at the historic Palace Hotel.  It was lovely!

I joined Jane for yoga on Thursday morning....ahhhh.   Santosha!

Arrived in Frisco Thursday.  Checked into our place....a look out the back door only to see the entire deck ripped out and caution tape across the doors.  :-(  I start to notice how I'm letting small things ruin my peace of mind.  I remind myself of my commitment to santosha, no matter the circumstances.  Believe me it's not automatic yet (wishful thinking) but I'm in it for the journey.... the long haul.  After all it's a practice to continually remind ourselves that everything is okay as it is.   I don't need a finished deck to be content.  Ahhh

Trust the deeper wisdom

Leaving The Woodlands this morning. Feeling a bit nostalgic, but looking forward to the adventure that lies ahead.
What is your hearts deepest longing?


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Well, it was a  sweet party!  Thanks for joining me at the Hyatt last Friday evening.   Thanks to Jane and Dabney for indulging me for this "selfie".  Jane you look angelic :-)

This is my 'test' for the blog to see if I can successfully add a photo.  

A week from today we'll be packing up the gator ready for our Tuesday departure.  Seems strange when I realize I won't be here again for at least a year.  I've lived here for 20 years and never been away longer than a month.  Last time that happened was when I left for college...we won't go into how long ago that's been.  Suffice it to say I have some happy thoughts about this leaving and some sad ones too.  Life is so full of uncertainties and this is one of them.  I'll miss so much of what I'm leaving behind, I'm so excited about what I'm going to find.  It's the paradox again Paula!

Stayed tuned for the Santosha Journey Blog, coming soon!
Peace,
Rhonda