Monday, October 22, 2007

Living Through Your Body Mind Spirit at Rancho Strozzi


We are arriving at one of the most fruitful and important
turnings in the history of the race.

The self is entering into relation with the body.
Edward Carpenter


PETALUMA, California, March 1994: My rental car rolled along Middle-Two-Rock Road in the glorious California sunshine, with the backseat stuffed with luggage and groceries for the long weekend. Petaluma, an hour’s drive north of San Francisco, lay a few miles behind me. I savored the crisp March air breezing in through my open car window. It was a welcome change from Texas’s humidity and heat. The road crested and I stopped to enjoy the view: a valley of rock formations, farmhouses and sheep in just-greening pastures. I love this part of California; its beauty and isolation speak to me—so different from Houston, a sprawling city of concrete and glass. With a deep breath I realized just how good it feels to be here.
I continued my drive to Rancho Strozzi, a lovely place with grazing horses and buildings of weathered wood. My assigned cabin was tucked away behind the martial arts dojo. Once inside, I chuckled. The cabin, charmingly rustic, was a tall but small octagonal room with a loft just large enough for a mattress. There was a wood-burning stove for heat, a small refrigerator, a sink, and a round table with one chair. Windows opened out onto the surrounding fields of hay. Only the occasional gust of wind broke the blissful silence.

An hour later I was back on Highway 1, cautiously maneuvering the hairpin curves, until with a dip and a wide turn the rocky hills finally revealed the coast. Thrilling with excitement, I drove on for a while, splitting my attention between the road and the spectacle of ocean before me, then parked and sat as close to the rock’s edge as I dared. In wonder, my eyes were riveted to the ocean below me: the towering cliffs, the boulders jumbling out to the sea below, the play of light changing the color of the water. The waves roared far below with the constant frigid blow of the Pacific wind. I’ve always loved the ocean; I used to rent an apartment in Galveston, on the Gulf of Mexico, but this stretch of the Pacific was the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. Feeling calmer, I returned to Rancho Strozzi and settled in, ruminating on this day and how I came to be here, and anticipating my start at the Lomi School tomorrow morning.


Love your way,

Alan Davidson, founder of
http://www.throughyourbody.com/
and author of Body Brilliance:
Mastering Your Five Vital
Intelligences (IQs)’

http://bodybrilliancebook.com/bbb_movie/

Watch the Body Brilliance Movie

Dedicated to our healthy, happy, and prosperous world through the full enlightenment of every human being.

Through Your Body
1103 Peveto St.
Houston, TX 77019
713-942-0923

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