Take another piece of my heart, Baby

UG! Joplin's song was the theme of my Saturday. It didn't start dramatically at all. In fact I woke up on Valentine's Day morning to one of my favorite holidays. What's not to love about celebrating love?

It took a sharp turn when I took my darling little dog out for a break. We have a nice little routine now. I could do it in my sleep, right? While outside, I heard my cell phone ringing and ran in to get it. When I returned moments later into the lawn, little dog was gone. Poof. Not a trace. He's wandered into the rose bushes before from time to time, so I went a'roaming with an "Elvis come here, Elvis stop this nonsense, Elvis I have your favorite treat..." No Elvis. I walked up and down the neighborhood, knocked on doors, sure that he's strayed with the neighbor dog. No such luck. Panic began to settle in. I got in my car and drove the neighborhood, even going off road into the orange groves. I was bordering on crazy yelling Elvis! Elvis! Elvis!  in full sob now.

When I finally got back to my house, an unknown van was in the driveway. Yipee! Elvis is back, I thought. A man was in the driveway with a gorgeous bouquet of roses from my boyfriend who is out of town. But no Elvis. I could barely enjoy the sweet gift. I put the on the dining room table and resumed my search on foot for another few hours. My voice as now a shrill, pleading, "Elvis, please come back". The thought began to cross my mind that the horror of horrors has happened, as we live in a neighborhood where hawks and coyotes are prevalent. My panic took on an edge of nausea. It was hard to breathe, it was hard to walk. I trudged home empty handed, devastated, and broken hearted. 

I called my boyfriend. 'Hello, thank you for the flowers and the dog is gone'. By the end of our conversation I was not only minus a dog, I was also minus a boyfriend. Losing a dog and a boyfriend in one day really sucks. St. Valentine's Day massacre is more like it.

I didn't know how I was going to pull off teaching my 6P class that evening. All week I'd been excited to teach on Valentine's evening and now it seemed easier to hike up Pike's Peak. All I knew was to suit up,  show up, and leave my sad story at the door. Yet there was a knowing that Lulu's with the One Breathers would probably be the safest place on earth for me in the state I was in, and I was grateful to have to show up.  I made the calls to the Humane Society and hung a bunch of posters up in the neighborhood, alerted a neighbor to be on the lookout, and made it to the studio on time to set up. I set my phone on vibrate in case an Elvis call came in, and stuffed my cell down my shirt just as the first person walked in for evening class.

Again the blessings of yoga revealed itself. I had a moment to get out of my own head and serve. It was a full class that evening so I really had my hands full as a lot was happening in the room. As we transitioned to the floor I lead a chant of Loka Samosta Sukino Bhavantu, 'may all beings be happy and free'. My voice cracked a little a few times as I lead the chant this evening, as I was thinking of my beloved missing dog. I hoped the class didn't notice.

I don't usually weave too many talking points into the class, but this evening I did speak of allowing one to feel the love from the universe that is abundant, ever present, and an infinite source of support. Its the best I could tap into as Truth for the moment on the topic of love.

One Breath is a constant amazement and delight to me. It is a community class in the biggest sense of the word. This evening, Lisa brought tangerines  from her garden, Charles played the most gorgeous tune on his flute during savasana, and Michael belted out a fabulous version of 'My Funny Valentine' after namaste. Most of the folks hung for a little while after class, visited, and enjoyed just hanging out with each other for a while.

Out of the studio, it was a tough ride home for me. And even more difficult to walk through the front door of my painfully empty house. I flopped into bed without dinner, with out even a cup of tea. Totally exhausted, remarkably sad, and a little bewildered about this thing called life. Yet utterly clear that I'm blessed with a year round valentine known as Lulu Bandhas.