A Sea of OM's - Salutation Nation 2011

What a beautiful morning I had today.

The sky was blue, the temperature was warm but breezy and I drove down to Shelby Park and rolled out my mat with about 50 other Memphis yogi's as part of Salutation Nation 2011.

Sponsored by Lululemon, Salutation Nation is an event all across the country where communities gather in a local park and offer a free yoga class.

I'd never been to Shelby Park before and wasn't sure where to go. So I stopped in at the Visitor's Center hoping for some info. As I was walking in, I saw a man with a yoga mat who also looked a little lost. We got our directions and hopped into my car together to drive around the lake to where the other yogi's were meeting.

Nowhere else in my life would I let a strange man in my car to drive through the park except at a yoga event. A man with a yoga mat thrown over his shoulder can be trusted.

I rolled out my mat on the grass in front of the lake and lay back to enjoy the warm sun. Soon I felt some taps on my shoulder and there was fellow yoga teacher and blogger Sondra!

Sondra and I never get to take a class together, we both are too busy teaching ourselves or subbing for each other. What a treat to place my mat near hers and flow our vinyasas together. Not only is she a delightful lady and awesome yoga teacher, but her blog has the best title: Sweet Tea and Sanskrit.

The class started off with meditation and then moved through some gentle yoga. I was really torn between just enjoying the yoga or taking pictures of the beauty around me. But since the settings on my camera were off and I couldn't see anything through the view finder anyway, I decided shooting blind wasn't worth it and focused all my attention on my mat.

About halfway through the morning, I looked up and there was Wendy! Maybe once a year or so Wendy and I run into each other at a yoga class or workshop.

New friends, old friends, yoga in the park. Could this get any better?

Yes, in fact it could. After savasana we all sat up facing the lake and began a sea of OM's. Each person in their own time began to OM, with no set count to finish. I don't know how many rounds we did, but just as it spontaneously began, it ended perfectly in sync.

Salutation Nation Memphis may not have been as big as it was in other parts of the country, but I'm confident our OM's were heard throughout the park.

Me, Sondra and Wendy
Salutation Nation 2011