My yoga and meditation practice affect my experience of travel… for the better! My travels this fall in both Morocco (leading my yoga retreat) and in Paris have solidified this belief for me.
I started consistently meditating a year ago. Every day my meditation practice asks me to appreciate the good. Even on hard days when it rains all day or that I spend dodging dog poop on the sidewalk, meditation instills in me the foundational belief that I can find the good if I look for it. And, the more good I look for, the more I find!
Finding the good in Morocco:
- The communal care each neighborhood in Marrakech provides to the countless stray cats that wander the medina
- The kindness and joy of two ladies both named Fatima-Zahra who taught me new phrases in darija (Moroccan Arabic)
- Sitting underneath the peaceful tree at the heart of the Amal Foundation‘s garden as the founder, Nora, explains the importance of her work for the women in her community
- Rooftop yoga as the sun rises over Marrakech and as the city awakens with the sounds of roosters, cats, and revving motorbikes
Finding the good in Paris:
- A line of cute Parisian toddlers, who are dressed in yellow caution vests, waiting to board the bus
- The first morning sun as it hits the crowded patchwork of roofs on a true-blue-sky day
- The first sip of a crisp, chenin blanc paired with fresh goat cheese
- A silly-large shiba inu dog who sticks his head out of his dog backpack as his owner bikes by
All these little moments of grateful awareness add up. These joyful memories stack one on top of the other until the overall feeling towards any one day or any one place is positive. Even on days that aren’t so good, all I have to do is look around me, observe, watch and I’ll find something to appreciate.
What particularly stood out to me on this trip, eight years after I studied abroad in Paris, five years after I lived in Morocco, is the immense joy I derive from learning languages. My brain floods with dopamine when I speak in French or Arabic. And, in turn, I get to see the slow, joyful realization on the other person’s face as I communicate with them in their language. They’re pleasantly surprised and happy to teach me new words and phrases. The French I’ve found are particularly surprised that my French is as good as it is, though their linguistic expectations for American tourists like me in Paris is low.
Learning another language is scary. It’s challenging and difficult. I make mistakes in French and Arabic every day. But I view these mistakes as opportunities to learn and try again. Language learning is an exhausting and humbling process that asks me to put myself out there and extrovert in a foreign language. And I love it.