CARLA McADAMS
When I think of Pat, the word “gracious” comes to mind – flowing with grace.
Pat’s exuberance for life embraced her passion for family and friends, as well as the cultural and artistic expressions of life she loved so well.
I had the honor and great joy of sharing the gifts of yoga and friendship with Pat for the last six years.
She first came to yoga class with her friends — Helen, Diane, and Betsy — to improve her health and balance.
Yoga lifted her up and made her feel vibrantly alive — as well as improved her strength and balance — on the mat and in her daily life. She delighted in her abilities to remain strong, flexible, and balanced as she gracefully aged.
But yoga also quickly became a gateway for Pat to touch her deepest self, to illumine the love in her heart, and share the joy of living well with everyone she met.
She became an “ambassador of yoga,” enthusiastically recommending it to family and friends, and always urged me to teach it to young children, so that they might enjoy its benefits throughout their lives.
Pat embraced life fully and shared her inner joy freely. In class she could be elegant and poised in a difficult pose one moment, and then collapse into a fit of giggles the next — completely free, fully in the moment and its sensations.
We also shared a great love of traveling the world — curious and open to any experience. She regaled me with wonderfully rich stories of travels, to Paris and Istanbul and throughout this country. I still hear the enthusiasm in her voice talking about the history, the art, the light of the landscapes, and the joy of meeting interesting people on her journeys.
Her journey in this life was rich and full. My own journey is greatly enriched by sharing yoga and friendship with Pat Chambers.
Let me close with the prayer she always joined me in at the end of every yoga class:
Hari om shanti, shanti, shanti. May there be peace in your heart. May there be peace in your life. May the love from your heart flow like a river into the hearts of others, so that all beings may live in peace and joy.