A couple of years ago I was at a daylong spiritual workshop being led by one of my favorite spiritual teachers. At one point the teacher opened up the workshop for Q&A. I remember this participant asking him, “Do you think it would help me on my spiritual journey to go to India like you did?”

And, the teacher replied something along the lines of, “Sure, why not? As long as you’re ok with getting dysentery from the drinking water.”

We all laughed. He was being his normal, casual, funny self. (That’s why he’s one of my favorite teachers.) But, then he made his point – whether in India, or on a yoga mat in a yoga studio, or even sitting on our couch at home, we don’t have to go anywhere to achieve a deeper spiritual experience. He went on to remind us that what we’ve been seeking our whole lives exists right now. Home is within us, wherever we go. It’s the belief systems we create our whole lives to stay safe that block the flow to home and to heart. And, that’s why we practice devotion – it’s a way of being, not a place outside of ourselves. It unclogs the channels, so we can more easily come back to home and to heart again and again.

I have been reflecting a lot on this lesson over the last few days as Adam and I travel. Is home in that sunset over there? Or, maybe in that sunrise over there? Or, maybe it’s the river – is that home? Is that infinite happiness and security and self-confidence and unconditional love out there? In a new place, with new people, constantly on the move, constantly seeking new destinations?

I’m no spiritual teacher, but my experiences have taught me that those things outside of myself are not home, nor the solution to my life – but, when the channels of my heart are clear, it only illuminates what’s outside of me even more brightly. And, I see those sunsets and sunrises with eyes wide open, and I hear those whooshing rivers flowing, and I’m reminded that the present moment is the best moment of all.

I have the continuous opportunity to rest in home and to rest in heart wherever our travels take us.

-Kristin