Earthquake

Last night I was meditating in a yoga class during the earthquake. The epicenter was about 45 miles North of where I was. I learned today that it was close to Santa Rosa, CA and had an estimated magnitude of 4.4 at 8:08 pm, and was followed by a 1.2 aftershock 25 minutes later (but I didn't feel that).

My friend Kristin went to the class with me. Dina was teaching and her assistant Amy was there. My friend Jim, who I hadn't seen in a long while, was in the class, too, and so was Martin, an acquaintance from the indie rock as well as the Dina-yoga scenes. I thought of these people when the room started moving. I really had fears of disaster, as if the shaking was going to get worse and we would all be dealing with a crisis situation.

Part of the reason why the earthquake was so intense for me, is that we were all sitting on the floor, concentrating on our breathing, and noticing the state of our bodies and minds. We were quiet, present and noticing. All of our attention was on noticing whatever was there. The teacher advised us to notice our moods, how we felt, and what we were thinking about. I had noted to myself that my mind was chaotic. I'd had a delayed and busy commute that evening from work to home to Kristin's to yoga. There was some confusion between me and Bob about who was using the car, and I wasn't sure until the minute I left the house if I would be able to go to class or not. Once there, I felt relieved to be there and I was looking forward to being still for a couple hours. But I still felt rushed and chaotic. I don't often feel that way at the beginning of a yoga class. Sometimes my mind is busy, but the feeling of "chaos" was big and new. It made me think that I was picking up on a natural disaster waiting to happen, and I had a passing thought that there might be an earthquake. And then there was!

The floor, the room shook my body forward and back and forward and back. I opened my eyes and listened to a creaking sound in the walls or ceiling. The teacher commented on the earthquake, and then told us to close our eyes and focus on our breathing. She talked about letting go of any desire to control events, and she mentioned anxiety that might have arisen in us and gave us tools to be present with it. She encouraged us to be present throughout the class. I had picked my intention to be "calm; patience". That was before the earthquake when I was feeling chaotic, I wanted to feel calm instead. The earthquake was like a manifestation of my feelings, but it didn't help me with my intention to be calm. I was worried for about 30 minutes after the earthquake. It took a while for me to let it go, but I eventually did for the remainder of the class. And then after the class I thought about it again. It was exciting.