The Vast Valley
Shiny Spoons
I’m volunteering at an ayurvedic resort offering daily yoga classes for the guests. I’m eating the same meals as those on their Panchakarma treatment.
I fidget and shake at the dinner table like an addict seeking their next hit. Dinner is the smallest meal of the day.
I’m learning mindful eating. The practice disguises my discomfort to the treatment’s portion sizes. I eat slowly, consciously to extend my meal beyond 20 seconds. I deceive myself that I’m no longer hungry.
The inside of my spoon looks at me as I question 3000 year-old health systems rather than my over-indulgent eating habits. It’s shiny from licking the last molecules of soup from it. It reflects my distorted view.
The Vast Valley
Heavy rains begin to fall on Yasmin Hill. They follow an afternoon schedule. First sight of the storms are at lunch. Mountain by mountain they move across the valley. Sometimes they find us engulfing our heads in the clouds.
Trees suck water from the soil feeding the thousands of mango and avocados on the property. Monkeys visit for daily inspections throwing their rejections to the ground.
The grass on the hill is long. Swifts skim the surface. They fly solo paths yet in patterns. Leeches find my feet as I get too close to the action.
A possum sleeps on my balcony. They look too cosy to disturb their slumber. I find another spot from the endless options overlooking the valley.
The valley’s vastness consumes full vision. Left to right. Earth to sky. The closest tree to the furthest mountain ridges.
A palette of green colours the mountains. Sheets of blue drape over them with distance.
Eyes gaze over this view for hours. The calmness settles the nervous system from seeing this level of depth. It’s easy to connect to the valley beside us as we meditate in the yoga shala.
Meditation
Here is a meditation inspired by the vastness of the valley.
