It's been almost a week now that I have posted a new entry; evidence that our final days of the first module of the training was really quite brutal.  Meditation didn't actually get easier; I've realized that though the breath through Pranayama exercises and an increasingly supple body through Asanas does not necessarily make Meditation easier on their own; the Mind must quiet before the experience can progress.  So each day; like rolling dice, had just as many probable outcomes to how hard it would be to sit there for the entire session.  On our final day with Lance, the day we did 108 Sun Salutations, I managed to sit quiet quite comfortably for 40 mins with no aches, pains, breathing malfunctions or excess brain chatter--it was so nice to reach (and sustain) a level of calm that I could recognize and not only graciously notice in passing as it came in the past.  Much of this achievement has nothing to do with me al all, but the presence of others to reach that continuity of calm.  I find yoga so much easier to do in the presence of others; as if you are being carried by a cloud of moving energy that lifts you through the postures.  I've developed a high (dare I say an attachment!!) to our group "Om" and chanting sessions; literally feeling the healing vibrations in the room to carry you through, elevate your own voice, recognize that we're not all in this alone.  I'm dedicating this piece to the Partner Yoga we did and all the other people who were part of this training; and their energy that catapulted me through some more difficult times and supported me through some other fearful ones.  It was a nice reminder that whatever meditation we are working on, it's nice to have witnesses who support or recognize our dedication; and that without them, the journey is too much of an internalized search rather than a externally reflected beam inwards, aware of our surroundings, partners and possibilities to be who we truly are...and be of service to them as well.
Namaste...which, by the way, means "I honor the place in you which is of love, of truth, of light and of peace; the place in which the entire universe dwells.  When you are in that place of you and I am in that place in me."