crap-a-loo

Oh, that's not really the name and we actually had a great time at "Kripalu" - Chris just wondered if new age yogi's had a sense of humor when he suggested this nickname...

We set out for this yoga retreat center in western Mass on Wednesday with very low expectations - with two young kids, we didn't anticipate having the ultimate relaxing and rejeuvenating experience, but we actually had a fabulous time - despite Kalian getting a high fever in the middle of the trip.

Kripalu is literally right across the street from Tanglewood in the Berkshires. It's outdoor setting is stunning with a lovely view of a lake nestled in the mountains. But, with temperatures finally challenging the universal global warming effects - hovering around zero - we didn't spend that much time outside, though I did walk around the meditation circle walk for a bit before freezing my zen buns off.

We arrived just in time for dinner - all of the meals were served in a large dining hall buffet style - it was so nice to spend three days having someone else cook and clean up (hey, what am I complaining about - that's what Chris is for) - and all yummy, organic food. They even had rice milk, Liam's drink of choice - though the "silent dining" breakfasts were a challenge - we ended up eating in the play room, so the kids could be their wonderful loud selves.

The play room was so helpful - not enough cars and trucks for Liam but still had plenty of toys for he and Kalian to play with. It was also where they had childcare - yes, childcare - that I did not hesitate to take advantage of. Unfortunately, we only planned on coming the week before, so I wasn't able to get more than 4 hours total - but that ended up being plenty for both us and the kids.

After the first dinner, we went to the evening program - sanskrit chanting complete with sitar, harmonium and tabla drums. Liam was transfixed and Kalian was starting to get sick so just sat there mesmerized before falling asleep. We had such warm welcoming glances and smiles from most people - toward the kids, which was a great way to start out our time there. It was also just so great to share this spiritual and musical experience with our whole family.

Fortunately, they were able to find two rooms across the hall for us, but Chris and I still had to sleep in separate rooms and push the two twin beds together in each room for safer kid beds. I had to sleep in a separate room from Kalian b/c if I am near her at night, she ends up breastfeeding constantly, and especially since she was sick, I was already sore. Can you say wean?

We missed the early morning yoga class, but Chris went to their workout room before breakfast and then Chris kindly took the kids while I went to one of the sessions - I was going to go to a yoga class but decided to go to a workshop on "finding your purpose" or something like that - we spent the first part of the session meditating (though I fell asleep for a big chunk of it) and then broke out in groups of three - I enjoyed the people in my group - a retired preschool teacher and a food writer from New York. We did written exercises and then shared our "purpose" - funny, I thought my focus would be on my job, but as I was meditating and writing I realized my priority right now is to figure out a way to have a more balanced family life (which of course includes work) that integrates the things that are important to me: community, politics, yoga/spirituality, and music. In our groups, we talked about the biggest challenge to carrying out our "purpose" - and mine was just finding the time to talk to Chris about all of this. It was actually amazing to map out the baby steps of making life changes.

Again, I was going to go to a yoga class, but then I saw on the schedule that they had a dance/yoga class - why not do something else different? I had a blast moving my body in such free form - I love yoga but it can be so restrictive sometimes with motion. The best part was Chris showing up with the kids in the last part of the class. Everyone had a blast dancing with Liam.

After lunch, Chris took some time to himself while I took the kids up to our room to rest - well, not really. Liam's not napping these days without car motion - and even then it's rare, so I did the unyogic thing and pulled out my laptop and put a dvd in there for him to watch. I made the mistake of showing the Little Mermaid - I was so shocked that it was so popular - ok, typical Disney violent but the gender stereotypes were over the top. I was so exhausted and laying down and trying to keep Kalian asleep by breastfeeding that my parental control was null, as I let Liam jump around the bed and watch it.

Fortunately, by that time, Kalian was feeling better, so we were able to take advantage of a few hours of childcare, and Chris and I took a yoga class together - which was fun, and then after we took the kids to dinner, we headed to try something brave - taking the kids in to see a bollywood movie, as the evening's "event" - the popcorn kept them at bay for a half hour, but Kalian's strong desire for sleep masked in ubercrankiness prompted us to leave - it was still fun to experiment with doing that kind of stuff with them.

Chris put the kids to bed while I ventured into the ultimate decadence - I went to sit in the hot tub/sauna (pure bliss - especially with the cold plunge) and then went to get my yearly massage - can never really justify that in the budget, but I saw this trip as a delayed 40th birthday trip, so I was so looking forward to it. Unfortunately, it was the one disappointment of the trip. The masseur spent the first 10 minutes asking me about places to live (he's thinking about moving), so he shortchanged my time, he also started out with this back stroking that included a little too much breast touching - I didn't feel sexually harrassed at all - I just have my breasts beat up all day by my kids that at this point in my life, it's probably one of the least relaxing touchpoints on my body. The worst part, though, was that he was so quick and was not at all in tune with my body and didn't address any of the areas I asked him too, that I think Liam could give me a better back rub. Oh, well.

After breakfast the next morning, we dropped the kids off in the playroom with Hailey, the childcare worker, and we tried to decide what to do with our few hours - there was an anti-stress workshop, but we thought we'd meditate together in the meditation room and then practice yoga together before heading off to the hot tub. Well, we got as far as meditating before Chris seduced me - gotta love that tantric aura at a yoga retreat - oh, and the childcare helps, too!

We headed off to the (unfortunately) same sex hot tub/saunas before picking up the kids and taking them to one more dance class - it was so fun to dance with my whole family. We ate lunch and then took off in the freezing weather. The kids napped the whole way back. Who could ask for more?