The Places That I Roam...

I've grown to really like taking random day trips.  Colorado is such a great place to do this.  Within a few hours I can get to a place that my breath and heart feel lighter (both figuratively and literally)  The Poudre Canyon is one of my favorite drives.  I feel like I know it and the curves well and it takes me to one of my favorite spots in Colorado, Steamboat Springs.

The drive there is about long enough to give me time to work through whatever I need to sort out and the drive back is good to let it all go.  To remember  to,  "Begin, again." To be present and take my time and just exist.

My love affair with the Colorado wilderness has just as much to do with the beauty and power of the outdoors as it does releasing the same from within me.  It's just as much about discovering my philosophy on life as it is pushing the skills of myself as a human and finding the peace in feeling very small. 

While I know I'd have a blast sharing the day with someone, during the week I typically have a lot of people depending on me to be a certain place, or prepare a certain thing and I like knowing that the only thing expected of me is whatever I expect of myself.  Historically these expectations have been absurdly high, but on trips like these I seek to expect nothing.

The challenge I have found is not to find myself on these road trips but to keep myself in days between.  I've started really thinking about something my yoga instructor talked about, "Find peace in the spaces between your inhales and exhales."  I really like this thought and have been trying to do this during my crazy days of teaching, coaching, and being me (in general).  To actually let go of the things I cannot control and to remember to "feel small" like I do when looking at things like the Nokhu Crags. 

The Cache La Poudre River

The Nokhu Crags