Yoga in the Yukon Jan Albin-Bullock goes through her practice amid the wonders of a nearly people-free scenery of Hart River in the Yukon Territory of Canada.
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By Jan Albin-Bullock
he sun is well above the horizon and because it is July in the north, I know that it will light the sky until midnight. I find a flat place on the pebble beach, careful to avoid the small purple flowers. I lay down my mat and then lay flat on my back. After several adjustments, moving pokey rocks, changing the angle of the mat to maximize the flat space, I begin my practice. I breathe. Movement; water, wind, breath. I move through my imperfect practice. Muscles sore from paddling lengthen and open. Spine becomes aligned. The shadows are my mirror and the water is my meditation. My practice is here in this remote land. While I love a good yoga studio with smooth floors, I
have found that the earth is not flat and the temperature is not controlled. This practice on the river requires me to deal with the elements first hand. Adjusting to the earth as it presents itself brings a different dimension to the poses I have practiced for years. There is new understanding as I deal with bugs, sun, wind and rain. Small obstacles allow for adaptations and make flexibility a necessary component. A headstand in rubberboots and raingear makes me smile. Sharing my mat with small spiders and sand allows me to move through the irritations and into my breath. My husband and I have traveled to the Yukon Territory to explore the rivers for over 15 years. Our travels have led us to the remote rivers of the Peel Watershed in the Yukon Territory. This year, we will float the
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| The Good Life
Adjusting to the earth as it presents itself brings a different dimension to the poses I have practiced for years. There is new understanding as I deal with bugs, sun, wind and rain. Hart River. To get there, we arrive in Whitehorse, capital of the Yukon Territory. We finalize our supplies and trip plans, then drive about four hours to the float planes in Mayo, Yukon. From here we load a float plane, get dropped off at Elliot Lake where we rig our boats and our trip begins.
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June 2020
We travel from the lake, down the twisty, small Elliot Creek and then finally arrive at the confluence of the Hart River. This land is vast. The human population becomes smaller as we travel to the river and the space becomes filled with rocks, water, trees and wildlife. The weather will be warm, sunny, windy, rainy, cold, sometimes all in the same day. We will be on this river for 20 days. We leapfrog with one other group of canoeists and from the reports, our group is one of four that will run this river this season. Our lives become simple; wake, eat, load the gear, push off, paddle the river, find a perfect campsite (protected from the wind, flat tent sites, plentiful firewood.) We set up camp, make a good fire, eat, practice (daily yoga), tell stories, read and sleep.
