We have had it all in the last week – wind, fires, evacuations, rain, threat of mudslides, and more evacuations, snow and Thanksgiving holidays with families in town and turkeys to be cooked. And we had them all in such a short period of time! Each and every one of these events produce a physiological response/reaction in our bodies. This past week could also be called a perfect test of our resilience and patience, strengths and weaknesses. (I, however, do not remember signing up for that test? Oh, wait – living our lives is the actual sign-up!)

I have always perceived myself as a strong woman with an innate and also honed/sharpened (for better and for worse, but that is a discussion for a different write-up) ability to weather (figuratively and literary) the storms. My upbringing in harsh (well, definitely harsher than here, economically and politically speaking) environment and being the eldest of 4 kids instilled (these days one should say –  installed, right?) an acutely heightened sense of responsibility, the need to be on time, to plan in advance, to keep my word, to be dependable and also to be able to deal with any crisis situations ultra well. This all should have prepared me for this last week’s different dramatic events. Well, it did not. I felt lost and not grounded. And somewhat guilty for feeling that way, as I also have a good number of years of yoga practice under my belt. So, Indra, let it go. Let the worries go. And take a deep, slow, even breath.  Do it a couple of times. Do it for 4 minutes. Focus on your breath. And enough of wallowing in dramatic, addictive news! We all will be ok. All will be ok. All is well… All these techniques and more (again – a theme for a different writing) work, of course – sometimes better, sometimes not so well.

For me, this time round, it took a little someone and a bunch of something different altogether –  a lonely gopher on Thanksgiving day (on the scorched west side of the San Marcos Foothills Nature Preserve) and a gloriously bright bunch of persimmons (left at our door step by our friends) to wake me up from that constant and continuing crises feeling.

During our Thanksgiving day walk –  in between the rain showers, the wind rearranging  the clouds and our hair-dos, and the magical moments of the Sun kissing even the craggy and steaming indentations in our mountains – we walked on mud, we felt the wind, we saw still smoldering tree stumps, we saw the reassuring bulldozer tracks, left by firefighters stomping out the fire, we smelled the ash, and… then we were greeted by a gopher, (and you will have to take my word for it – usually I am not that fond of gophers!) digging his/her first hole after the fire and rain. We witnessed him/her pushing the dirt and getting on with the business… Again. And I knew that we will, too, be ok. Again. That prompted interesting discussions, like, where do the gophers go during the fire (do they have friends’ homes (I mean – holes) to evacuate to?), what will they eat if there is no vegetation left, and, of course, it lead to a more serious conversation regarding  the need to answer bigger questions about our climate change and our role in that all.

We got home to a bunch of vibrant orange persimmons –  full of life and promise – a Thanksgiving gift from good friends, left at our doorstep.

Yes, we all have a lot to be thankful for.

Thank you, fire fighters,  for your help, thank you, friends, for giving us shelter when we had to evacuate, thank you, winds, for slowing down your ferocious dance, thank you rains for being gentle on us, thank you friends for the persimmons and friendship, and thank you all for being in our lives.  Oh, and thank you, little gopher – you were my teacher that day! Thank you.

Written by Indra Strong, Certified Let It Go Yoga teacher.

Want to know more about Let It Go Yoga? Start here with our Diaphragmatic Breathing Video!