smilingdogcafe

The café is looking great! The construction is done and the tile floor is finished. Renee even sealed the original tile floor in the kitchen area, which apparently had never been done before. Then she enlisted the help of her daughter Sophia, and they polished the place to shiny perfection.

I am so happy to have her for a partner. Her enthusiasm and energy level seems boundless. And she can cook!

We complement each other. It seems wherever I am weak, she is strong, and vice-versa.

As soon as we jump through some bureaucratic red tape – which is on my agenda this week – the café will be ready to open.

We got a chance to shop for equipment and supplies yesterday at Smart and Final and Costco in San Luis Obispo. And we even found time to take in a movie at the Palm Theatre, Enlighten Up!

Enlighten Up! is a documentary by Kate Churchill about Yoga and if its practice really can lead to enlightenment. Kate finds a physically-fit, 29 year-old journalist (Nick Rosen) from New York City and gets him to sign on for a six-month Yoga odyssey.

Nick has never even practiced yoga before, so he starts out attending various classes in different styles and with different instructors to see if he can find a good fit for his spiritual journey. But Nick doesn’t see himself as a spiritual person – and although he appreciates yoga for its physical workout – he just doesn’t get the spiritual connection.

From the East Coast of the United States, Nick and Kate travel to Kate’s guru in Hilo, Hawaii, and then onward to see the great yogis of India.

The film was mostly light-hearted thanks to Nick and his pragmatic attitude. His approach was an interesting contrast to the interviews of dreamy-eyed followers of the great Gurus. He even referred to the followers of one guru to be “cultish”.

When the film was over and the lights in the theatre came on, we saw someone we knew sitting in the row behind us – Theresa – a petite, bubbly brunette who also happens to be a popular local yoga teacher. Theresa said she really like the way the film showed the great yogis like B.K.S Iyengar.

“They just seem so human,” she said, “and funny! Much different than the iconic images we have in our mind when we think of them.”

As we drove to Costco, Renee and I got talking about leaders and followers – how some people seem to easily fall into that cult mentality, how others are always more than happy to rise up to the iconic position, and how refreshing it was to see Nick in the film – whose skepticism it seemed would never allow him to fall prey to someone else’s spell.

There was almost a beauty in the balance between Nick and the Guru Groupies – and that balance itself seems almost “yoga-ic” – if that’s even a word.

At Costco, while walking down the long aisles piled high with merchandise that seemed to magically pull on my emotional needs to acquire, I simply wrote down pricing information and focused on the word “balance.”

That is what Smiling Dog Café can be all about – balance. Balance between the individual and our connection to nature through nutrition; balance between the café and Smiling Dog Yoga Studio; and balance between our offering of fresh, locally-grown, organic food and the community that desires it.

It’s like standing in Tree Position outside on a hill of tall golden grass overlooking the Pacific Ocean on a windy day. The force of the wind makes you check your balance and shift ever so slightly so that you don’t fall…you send imaginary roots down, deep into the earth…you stand tall and strong on that one supporting leg…as you breathe deeply and focus.

– That’s the image of balance I will keep in mind as I weave my way though one county department after another this week: stand strong, breathe deep and focus…

I’ll let you know if I’m successful.

Until next time…standing strong,

Pam

Trackback URI | Comments RSS