Personal Reflection: Our National Parks & Yoga

Personal Reflection:

Our National Parks & Yoga

Celebrating the centennial of our National Parks and a quarter-century since my first season as a ranger.

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Recently Annie sent me a link (appended below) to an article that shows how various National Parks represent certain yoga poses. And this got me thinking about my own time with the National Parks Service.

I was hanging out on the porch of my A-frame “estate” in rural Vermont with acres of green all around me, just enjoying the sun, when my “big break” came. It was a District ranger calling from Mt Rainer National Park offering me a backcountry ranger position. Amazingly, I did not accept the position on the spot. I told him I would get back to him tomorrow. And I did. And it wasn’t long thereafter that I packed up all my belongings – which were very few – they filled about 1/2 of my 2-door Toyota Tercel hatchback – and I embarked on my month-long journey across the US, visiting friends and National Parks along the way. Alas I reached Mt Rainier National Park at the end of June – the year was 1991.

I had the most remote backcountry position in the park – and I woke up and hiked through this scene every day…often going days or a full week without seeing a single person. It was just me, the mountain goats, marmots, and elk / deer. And a few black bear as well, though I only saw one all summer.

And, I traversed this natural bridge (without any rope) thinking it was the easiest thing in the world, but today would think better of it.

These vistas and meaderings were all part of my daily journey that summer – they were my backyard…and yes I did get opportunity to climb and summit Mt Rainier itself more than a few times that season as well.

It was such a grand time that I decided to re-enlist, only at a bigger, larger park the next season – and for a longer amount of time – welcome to Denali.

This was an entirely different world – a place above and beyond. The mountain tours and backcountry patrols were stunning and beyond description – indeed epic. And I returned for a patrol the next year too!

Thereafter I passed another two seasons with the Pacific Crest Outward Bound School in the North Cascades (Washington).

Those seasons with the National Parks provided an indelible imprint on my psyche, and my world. The awesomeness and sheer power of nature, along with its calmer, quieter side. Those years also coincided with my entry into the world of yoga and meditation. And sometimes my summers in the parks were bookends for a long stretch of late fall, winter, and early spring in India and ashram living. I straddled these two abodes for some time, before absorbing myself fully into a yogic lifestyle, leaving the parks behind. I know for some the parks would make for the perfect complement for yoga, but for me they were the ultimate springboard into a full-on meditative lifestyle. And for that I shall always be grateful.

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Here is the link that Annie sent – it is a neat portrayal of the various parks and the yoga poses they represent…click on the below image of Acadia National Park to start your journey…

 A Yogi’s Guide to the National Parks

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