A slice of life in Nicaragua.
I woke early to squeeze in a short hatha yoga practice and meditation before an early morning private class date over at Hotel Spa Granada, site of my favorite pool in the city! Walking there, I enjoyed the relative cool of the morning and the view of Volcan Mombacho shrouded in clouds. After a poolside yoga class followed by a delicious breakfast of fresh fruit and yogurt, I headed over to Hotel Dario for some sweet coffee and a meeting with some local yoga teachers who are working to open up a boutique hotel and yoga studio here in Granada. I think we have some exciting retreat workshop collaborations in our future!!
Yoga chat is always fun, and we probably would have easily gotten lost in that conversation if it weren’t for the fun event we are planning. Working in conjunction with Unify, we are creating a Solstice Celebration here in Granada to sync up with other events worldwide and bring together some wise and wonderful souls in celebration of our common conciousness and peace and to raise funds for Escuela Comedia, a local school providing an education and circus skills to impoverished children living in Nicaragua. Whew! That’s a lot to get done in one morning, but we made some great headway in planning what I expect will be a fabulous night full of yoga, kirtan, meditation, and mimes!
After that, it was a trip back to the home with internet and flushy toilets to email the musician I have lined up for the event and connect with the other yoga teachers who will be lending their energy. My afternoon of writing and connecting with other creative people was interrupted briefly by the news that a tarantula had made an appearance in the house. Actually, the second tarantula in two days.
My friend is no fool, and not one to ignore so obvious a sign from Spirit as two tarantulas in two days. The first was inadverdantly killed as it was transported out of the house into the street. Thus, a plan had to formulated for the safe removal of the second tarantula to a more friendly environment.
For those curious, spiders connect to the divine feminine grandmother energy of weaving dreams for ourselves, manifesting realities, and doing the hard, nurturing work of compassionately facing our fears.
A paper bag with soft tissue paper was decided upon as the safest means of transport for Elizabeth, as the tarantula was named in honor of my friend’s Grandmother. My friend softly coaxed the spider from the potted plant where she was hiding beneath a leave into the paper bag, and from there we walked down towards the lake. After taking a moment to warn some tourists from walking around with their valuable camera in hand and not tucked away in a backpack, we spotted a shady area full of mango trees that looked like the perfect new home for Elizabeth the tarantula. My friend guided Elizabeth out of the paper bag and onto the grass, then surrounded her with branches and leaves so that she might have protection from the sun or any humans that just don’t understand.
On returning to the casa, it was back to the hard work of creating an online event with busy people in different locations. Internet went out for a spell, as it does in Nicaragua, and I took that moment to design a business card to pass out in lieu of a torn piece of paper with my yoga website and local phone number. Moving up in the world!
After an afternoon kundalini meditation, it’s off to read some cards and enjoy the Nicaraguan evening, cool now as the sun sets and the winds blow in.