Expect nothing - not even in the desert.

When Agnes, one of my closest friends, asked me to teach a Yoga class on the day of her wedding I felt deeply honored. At that moment the wedding day was still far away, but the excitement and the warmth and love I felt about being invited to teach on such a beautiful occasion was fueling me during moments of doubt about my teachings.

Seeing my dear friend about to marry her love and at the same day meeting so many beautiful friends that I haven’t seen in years, was overwhelming and filled me with love and gratitude.

The dramatic view on top of that mountain where the celebration and the Yoga class was going to take place intensified any kind of sensation. However, there was one thing that nobody expected to happen in this beautiful desert. Rain pouring clouds were moving from the horizon over the ocean towards this crowd of beautiful people, traveling from all over the world to celebrate Agnes’ and Nuño’s love.

Before the class I sat myself on my mat to get centered, to calm my fast beating heart, and to ground my emotions. I was nervous but so calm and secure at the same time. Looking at the rain coming closer and closer, I felt Agnes’ resentment. We are in a desert. Come on. The only thing that was sure was the sun going to shine on that day. At least that’s what we thought.

I meditated. And ridiculously enough I even had the slightest hope we all together could move the clouds away. But I remembered quickly that it was not necessary. Everything was perfect and exactly how it needed to be. Just be present with whatever comes up and maybe it’s even better than what we picture it to be.

Starting the class with the words ‘I am deeply honored’ already made me cry. I was just filled with so many emotions, it was just a lot to take in. I could have felt embarrassed yet I felt loving support of this crowd having their eyes and ears on me and my words. We started the class and while we moved our bodies, the clouds let go of their rain exactly above us. ‘Do you want to continue?’ ‘YES!’, everybody was in. Telling them not to feel pressured to stay, it was all up to each and one of them, encouraged them to stay with even more dedication.

For me it was perfect – the beats from the speakers, rain running down the skin, the view, the unification of this incredible bunch of friends and soon to be friends, laughs, tears, anger and – ultimately – deep gratitude. Gratitude for exactly all this.

Letting go of expectations is not easy, yet it’s the only way we can be sure not to get disappointed. Or let’s be more clear. Expectations is not what makes us suffer, yet clinging on to this expectation is. Being open for any unexpected situation and being able to seize the moment is what makes life exciting. Not even in the desert, can we be sure of a sunny day, but does it matter? Of course it sucked, it would have been beautiful to have the wedding dinner outside, to dance outside, to go swimming in the pool after the party without freezing. But did we all ever do Yoga in the rain? No. Was it fun and will we remember it maybe even for years? Yes. And didn’t we dance and laugh all night and enjoyed every second of this celebration? Yes, but only because we realized that we can’t influence outer circumstances and we were not even thinking of allowing them to destroy our mood nor our party.

Thank you Agnes & Nuño.

Thanks also to Baoz Reisel for capturing these moments on camera. Copyright www.boazreisel.ch