I got off the train feeling like I’d arrived home, but with no place to dump my bags.

It was one of those beautiful sunny days that slid deliberately but unassuming between two days of saturating rain.  I took full advantage of the sunshine and walked from Penn Station down to the Chelsea Market (15th Street & 9th Avenue) with the accelerated pace of a former New Yorker and the ease of a current Suburban dweller.

I walked into Friedman’s Lunch where I flew into the arms of my dear friend Shauna James Ahern (a/k/a The Gluten-Free Girl) & met her husband, Dan, and daughter, Lucy, for the first time.  Shauna & Dan were in town, from Vashon Island (near Seattle), touring with their new book, Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef and catching up with old friends.  Another cherished friend, Megan, joined us with her younger son, creating a magical moment in time.  Great friends, good food and lots of stories.

Shauna & Dan were off to do a radio show to talk about their book and Megan had to catch a train; so we all headed out into the familiar City that had been the backdrop of our lives for the years we all lived there.  The moments quickly morphed into one that found me walking aimlessly, yet with purpose, up and down the streets that guided me with a purely physical memory.

It all felt so natural, normal and strangely surreal to be back in the flow of this vibrant urban energy.  It didn’t even matter that I ended up nursing a Chai Latte at Starbucks (of all places),  reading, “Drums of Autumn.” I felt totally swept up into the wild current that, in part, defines NYC.

I watched people walk with haste, expressionless, while cars, bikes, sirens and general mayhem kept pace in the background of their personal stories.  (I remembered feeling once that riding in a NYC Taxi was like playing a live video game.)  It was thrilling to be an active bystander, to witness the prana all around while feeling it surge through me at the same time.

While I felt the familiarity of home, it was rarely like that for me while I lived there.  Wrapped up in my daily agendas of work, appointments, social gatherings, cultural experiences and just plain life maintenance, I wasn’t often alone with my thoughts enough to allow them to marinate in the pure energy of just BEING in this city.  I feel blessed to feel both like a resident and a visitor; able to shelve the negative aspects of the hustle and bustle and truly absorb the myriad gifts and blessings of Being.

I have always been reassured by the sense of intimate anonymity this city provides.  Hidden in plain site, I have the permission all at once to bounce, rock, sing, skip or laugh out loud for no apparent reason.  I find a great sense of peace and joy that the intimacy of a large city provides (but not to the exclusion of wide open spaces and selected times of solitude).

From Starbucks, I made my way to my friend Stacey’s new yoga studio, Yogamaya, where upon entering, I felt I had passed through a gateway to another land.  Hand carved wooden screens from India, wide open spaces, skylights and a flow designed for happiness and ease, I couldn’t help but smile.  The fact that I was going to be taking Stacey’s class was making my NYC day extra special.  We’ve been friends for  nearly 25 years and while yoga came into both of our lives after several years, it was like everything else in our friendship, like it had always been there.

I have to say that she is an AMAZING teacher!  She brings levity to a practice she takes very seriously, takes you on a spiritual journey while mindfully, and with wisdom, refines and helps to articulate the physical poses.  All of this contributes to a beautiful free-fall of opening up and deepening one’s own practice.  I know that her verbal cues and sometimes subtle adjustments allowed me to see paths for growth that had beforehand been out of view.  Thank you Stacey!

Where could I go from there that could possibly make the day any sweeter?  The answer was an evening of belly-aching laughter and great food with a friend who has been more like my brother for more than half of my life.  Coming full circle from where I was to where I am and back again, I saw the world from a fresh perspective.  The unspoken truths of our youth inspired a range of emotion from often just a subtle shift in our eyes.  Laughter replaced the details of our conversations without any need for explanation.  This is living simply, fully and with total ease.

This post is seeming more like a journal entry, noting personal events as they unfolded; I guess it is.  The universal part of this story is multi-fold.  There is the idea that taking time away from the daily routine can be like a tonic for the soul; there is nothing like laughter and good friends as a reminder of what’s important; what we learn on the mat about fearlessness, coping and navigating life’s twists & turns can be translated anywhere, anytime; sometimes our physical memory can be so potent that it will guide us to our next destination; good friends do not require more than just being together; having no plan can reveal a bigger plan…that a sunny day sandwiched in between two rainy ones can create a perfect moment in time.

Now open your eyes and take a breath.  Know that the magic created by this journey of moments can be revisited whenever you like.  Just unroll your mat, put your hands at heart center and take yourself there.