Delaware {50 States of Yoga}

IAD in the early morning

I flew into Dulles International Airport in Virginia outside of Washington, DC for this leg of 50 States of Yoga.  Which may not appear to make sense, since Virginia is not part of this loop...  but I have 3 very good reasons for doing so.

1.  The car rental was $300 cheaper than Newark Airport in NJ (and cheaper than all the below airports, really).
2.  I did not want to go to New York City on this trip, thus JFK Airport - and driving through NYC - was out.
3.  My airline employer does not fly to Philadelphia - and I wanted some comfort, so I chose to stay on Virgin America.

That said, I worked a 10 hour shift on Saturday and went straight to SFO for a red-eye flight that night to Dulles.  I arrived weary and had a whole day's adventures ahead of me.

I had several hours to kill before a midday class in Delaware.  I drove on the highway up through Baltimore, MD and, once on the other side, began to look for something to do.  I ended up in Havre de Grace, MD.  A charming town on the Chesapeake Bay.  I walked along the boardwalk at the edge of the bay, read a few signs about the history of the area, and visited the northern most lighthouse on Chesapeake Bay.

Havre de Grace, MD

 

This part of the boardwalk in Havre de Grace made me feel like I was in mangroves...
maybe in Florida or Puerto Rico.

I then headed towards Newark, DE on back roads and found the below sign and lots of corn fields.  I didn't see any horse and buggies though.  I also drove through White Clay Creek State Park.  It was a short, but lovely detour.

Once in Newark, DE I attended a midday Gentle Hatha Yoga class at Truly Yoga with Megan.  Megan's dad was in the yoga class and I thought this was beautiful.  Another high point was being next a young woman who was at her first yoga class.  That made my heart smile.  I feel like everyone can get something from yoga... so when someone takes the leap to attend for the first time, I am honored to share that with them.  The class had a great flow.  I really enjoyed Megan's thorough instructions during class.  She was super helpful with her guidance.  I also felt energized by her.  Megan has an infectiously cheery disposition.  So friendly, but without crossing that annoying border.  She has magic that you can see in her eyes.

During savasana Megan read to us a passage from Melody Beattie's Journey To The Heart:  Daily Meditations on the Path to Freeing Your Soul.  She read an excerpt from that day's passage, July 12, which I have shared below {courtesy of Amazon}.  The only difference is she substituted a word for God at the very end of the last paragraph... and I'll be darned if I can't recall what word she used!  But it was affective.  And appreciated.  Megan isn't just incredibly kind, but she's a conscientious yoga teacher.

I was so excited to have met Megan.  I was grateful that she gave me a magnet from the studio.  I was also exhausted from the working, the flying, the driving, the yoga, and the lack of sleep.  And so I forgot my yoga mat.  I didn't realize it until I got to my in-laws' house north of Philadelphia later that evening.  Initially I was pretty bummed.  It was a new mat with a lotus flower on it and I really liked the design.  But then I remembered that it didn't have great grippy-ness and that sort of frustrated me anyway.  I checked my schedule and Truly Yoga's schedule and realized that they wouldn't be open when I would be back through the area on my way home Wednesday.  So... if you're reading this Megan, please give my mat to someone who needs it or feel free to share it in your studio mats!  And thank you for a wonderful class!

Me and Megan!

 

 

Excerpt from Journey To The Heart

 

Check back sooon for the other 4 states in this adventure...  and thanks for reading 50 States of Yoga!