A Few Days in Arkansas

All y’all don’t really know about Arkansas until you go there for at least a few days. Judy and I recently drove Aaron’s car down to him at the yoga center and organic farm he’s working at in northwest Arkansas. In our short stay, we met many friendly Arkansawyers (or Arkansans), were pleasantly surprised by the state’s beautiful rolling hills, and were able to step outside our comfort zones during a new experience.

It takes around 13 hours if you’re fairly focused about getting there. The map, below, was our route; we stopped overnight near St. Louis to see our friend, Maureen (thanks for the lodging, Maureen!), at the St. James Winery because it called to us, and at Laura Ingalls Wilder’s home because history & literature are cool, but mostly we drove.
maptoponca

Eventually, we ended up between Ponca, AR and Jasper, AR. I added a red heart on this next map to show the approximate location of the Circle Yoga Shala (and farm) where Aaron is staying. It’s in that white space on the map between two very small towns. We turned at this one bend in the road where it said “Shiloh” and went up and around this steep, bendy road and after awhile the road turned from pavement into just rocks and holes and it was about a mile past that on the right.
Arkansas map1

Matt, Holly, Lou Ann, Christian, and all the folks at the farm were very welcoming and genuine. They invited us to sit down to some delicious sweet potato soup that first evening and every conversation we had with each of them was special; we could tell they appreciated Aaron, his work ethic, and the fact that we had driven down to see him.
Here’s my first shot of the space and a link to a bunch of photos from the trip.

shalabarn

Try to take some time to look at the photos on the link, above, since I took the time to put some explanatory captions on them (though you can’t see my captions in slideshow mode for some reason).

One of the main events of our time in Arkansas (that you won’t see in the photos) was our experience in a sweat lodge. Though we both had our reservations about the ‘opportunity,’ it turned out to be a powerful, eye-opening ceremony. Every question we had about the process was addressed beforehand and we were reassured that we could leave anytime we wanted. They even talked openly about the mistakes made some time ago by people in the southwest (using plastic to cover the lodge instead of using blankets or other breathable items).

Talk with Judy or me personally for more specifics, but here is a montage of both the process and my reactions to the sweat lodge: we all drank a bunch of water throughout the day; the rocks were heated for a long time; the smudging ceremony calmed me; entering the space, I could see it would be crowded (30 men and women and one boy); the waves of heat were intense as water was poured on the hot rocks by Steve; he also sang most of the Lakota songs and calmly explained what was happening and why; the prayers I had on my heart helped me stay focused and made it more meaningful; I also concentrated on my breaths a lot more than usual; it was so dark, I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face; the ground was cool and I laid down a few times; they opened the doors between the four sections and that helped me cool off and relax; after about 1 1/2 hours, we all hugged as we walked out into the sunlight; I felt a strong sense of community with these people and of the symbolism of the re-birthing/renewing process. Later, we ate a potluck meal together, shared our thoughts and feelings about the experience in a circle, and smoked the pipe.

There was something about knowing Judy and Aaron were in there with me that made it more special. Experiencing it in the hills of the Ozarks added to the magical quality of the moment. We took in many other sights and experiences in our short time in the South, but that Fourth of July sweat lodge stands out as the most significant, grace-filled* time we had.

P.S. Our plane ride back to Detroit was delayed due to some back weather in Chicago where we had a lay-over. I was texting back and forth with Aaron about it. As it turned out, even though we missed the bus back to East Lansing, we found a friend at the airport who gave us a ride. I commented to Aaron that we were “crazy fortunate” and he reminded me that our crazy fortunate moments sound like grace.

3 thoughts on “A Few Days in Arkansas

  1. So, is this sweat lodge something a person might opt out of if they are somewhat claustrophobic??? (smile) Sounds like you had a great time and made some memories!!

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