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Prologue

The intensifying hips stray strands of hair acrossit difficult to drop into meditation

“Breathe deeply,” I say to the wo my most serene voice I inhale the warm, hu the breath “Exhale completely”

This is our fourth day of a ten-day retreat with over one hundred participants It is by far the largest event at which I’ve been invited to teach, and I want the participants’ parting reviews to be stellar

I continue the slow, deep breathing exercise to prepare the other seven women in the circle for a therapeuticfrom Laiyla where she sits directly across the circle

I open h s crossed, hands resting on her knees, palh on the outside, but she’s kicking off so much emotion, it’s hard to silence the reverberation inside me

I’ve tried to connect with her during ure out what’s bothering her, but she’s so guarded, I can’t get a deeper read She’s aboutwhiskey-brown eyes that see and everyone She also holds on to her brittle veneer like a life preserver

Just before I close lances at the empty meditation pillow beside her where KT, another retreat participant, should be sitting Then Laiyla’s gaze drifts to the ocean and its rough surf

I inhale and close e of the person ho resentment” I picture the subjects of my own turmoil—my two older sisters who abandonedme to take care of my alcoholic father In the last year, since I returned to the States, I’ve had the opportunity to reconnect with the that deep wound “Accept any es and let theo”

Of course, that’s easier said than done, but I know froer and resentment do, in fact, fade with time and acceptance

Another burst of hips through the group, disturbing the peace I mentally scan the spaces inside the resort available for this session, but this facility is as small as its South Pacific island, and booked to the briain, the session will be over

“I across frolowing orange ball” I allow a long pause to give the visualization tilobe up to your inner—”

“Excuse me, Chloe”

The interruptionas planned today—not the weather, not my instruction, and now, not even my students Patience, I remind myself Patience

I openbetween ry ocean “This is more than a tropical storm, and it feels much closer to us than the experts predicted”

I take stock of our surroundings, the very space I’ve been trying to block for meditation The tall palms arc in the wind; the ocean pounds the tide pools surrounding the island

The other wolance between me and Laiyla