I’m traveling by train to Miami from Boston, Mass.  It’s a 36 hour ride and I’m psyched.  I haven’t taken the train since I used to commute from Providence to NYC to go to Columbia for my Dual Masters in Psychology.  In those days I was 28 and life was “hard.”  I made it that way.  I commuted 3.5 hours to NYC every week—sleeping in the city for a few nights while I took classes from morning till night—and then took the train home, working feverishly all the while as the train moved through “Old Saybrook!  New London!” and so on.  I never napped, I never listened to music, I never read “for fun.”  I worked.  I’d get on the train and quickly scan the seats for “the outlet seat,” and snag it if I was lucky enough.  This was before WIFI and outlets at every seat.  This was before there was a “quiet car” on the train.  This was when the conductors scared me a little bit as they asked me for my ticket in their gruff, loud voice.

This is a whole new train ride.  And what a metaphor it is.  I slept very little last night while tying up loose ends for our four Prana Power Yoga studios, The Prana Raw Café that we are opening in about 8 weeks, all of the details of my three kids’ lives while I am Miami bound—until they meet  me there—yet, I am wide awake with excitement and joy.  A train ride!

The Universe hooked me up and had one of my Prana Super-mom Consulting Clients tell me I needed to get an Internet Connection for the train, and my husband hooked me up and got one for me from AT & T so I could work from the train, at my leisure.  No distractions, no disruptions, no pick-ups or drop-offs, no classes to teach, no laundry to do, no meals to prepare—total focus.

So once I boarded, got settled in “the quiet car,” and had a snack, I was ready to begin my internet adventure while speeding down the tracks at 100 mph toward the sun and sand.
 
My internet connection didn’t work.  I texted my husband.  He didn’t respond.  I called him—“It should work,” he explained as our two-year-old yelled for me in the background, “call AT&T.”

My stomach dropped.  That is HIS thing—calling tech support people and talking to them for sometimes hours to figure things out.  I have always honored and marveled at his ability to do so—and never had any desire to do so myself.

An hour, 2 snacks and asking 2 passengers for help later, I faced my fear and called tech support.  To my surprise, they were super-nice and helpful.  I breathed and told them what was happening.  Sure, I was transferred to four different people, and just when they were about to figure out what had gone wrong with my internet connection, I lost my cell phone signal, and the call.

But I’m calm and I’m happy.  Still loving the train.  Still loving the ride.  I decided to take the Universe’s not-so-subtle-suggestion and write this article on Word instead.  Paddling downstream, enjoying the ride.

What changed between my train rides at age 28 and my train rides now?  A lot.  But the most dramatic thing—that continues to influence how I feel in each moment and flow through each day—is my daily yoga practice.

And yes, I brought my mat on the train and will practice tomorrow morning in my sleeper car.