Yoga "class on the grass" in aid of the Nepali Yoga Women's Trust

Namaste!!

All our prayers were well and truly answered yesterday; not only was the weather perfect for the much revered Yoga "class on the grass" held in my parents' beautiful garden yesterday, but we also managed to raise an incredible £541 for the Nepali Yoga Women's Trust and have lots of fun in the process!

Arriving for a 10am start, the grass was soon covered with different brightly coloured mats and over 40 participants ranging in age from Ellie at 7 years old, through to Tabitha, Caitlin and Ailsa at 13 to a gentleman of 64 and a lady of 65, and there was even a pregnant lady - it really is true what they say, Yoga is for everyone!


The class began with the participants lying in Savasana (corpse pose), and becoming aware of their surroundings - the sound of the birds and the leaves rustling in the trees, the smell of the sea air and the sensation of the sun and the light wind upon their skin and the earth below them, plus of course the odd ant crawling over them, all very grounding!



Breathing in the fresh Guernsey sea air, we came up to sitting and cranked our ankles and massaged our feet, and even planted a compassionate kiss on our big toes, to really encourage a connection with the earth through the soles of our feet, before moving into Marjariasana (cat pose) to gain a greater connection with, and opening of, the heart space as well as embracing the movement of the spine, releasing tension and encouraging the energy to well and truly flow.



From here into Adho Mukha Svanasana (downward facing dog), though Santolanasana (plank pose) and down onto our stomachs, navel to earth, and inhaling into Bhujangasana (cobra pose) to further encourage that opening through the heart space and release through the lower back and sacrum, before exhaling back into downward facing dog. Walking hands to feet, the adults lengthened the back body through Uttanasana (standing forward bend) while the children/teenagers came into the Gorilla pose, upper body hanging, knees bent and swinging their arms from side to side!



We stood in Tadasana (mountain pose) connecting feet to the earth and feeling the length through the crown of the head all the way up to the sky, before balancing on one leg in Vrksansana (tree pose) - usually students have the comfort of the wall to balance against, but out here in the garden, there was no such prop, and yet incredibly (or not as the case may be what with feet on the earth), everyone managed to balance easily.



To honour and give thanks to the sun for being the provider of life and shining so brightly on us this glorious day, we practiced a few Surya Namaskar (sun salutations) before standing strong and grounded in Virabhadrasana II (Warrior 2), lengthening the side waist and encouraging the joyful opening of the chest and shoulders in Utthita Parsvakanasana (extended side angle), embracing the liberation of the heart space in the "pose of joy", Utthita Trikonasana (extended triangle pose)and radiating energy from our centre in 5 different directions, before moving gracefully into Ardha Chandrasana (half moon pose), simultaneously reaching up to the sky and down to the earth.



Calming it all down we moved into Prasarita Padottansana (wide legged forward bend) so we could see the world from a different perspective, before balancing on one leg again in the graceful Natarajasana (Lord of the Dance Pose) and crouching down in Malasana (Garland Pose) and having some fun with Bakasana (the crow pose), Bhujapidasana (the arm pressure pose), Ubhaya Padangusthasana (both big toes pose), Navasana (boat pose), Kurmasana (tortoise pose) and Table Top Pose - well done to the girls for showing us how these are practiced!



Calming it all down and encouraging the open hearted nature of the practice, raising money for the women in Nepal, we practiced Setu Bandhasana (bridge pose) while some ventured up into Urdhva Dhanurasana (upward bow pose), before lengthening the legs in Supta Padangusthasana (reclining big toe pose), opening the heart to the sky in Ustrasana (camel pose), releasing forehead to the earth and massaging the internal organs in Balasana (child's pose), nourishing the mind and spirit in Viparita Karani (upside down pose), twisting it all out in Jathara Parivartanasana (stomach revolving pose) and releasing in the very un-yoga-like "dead bug pose"!



While some sat in meditation, most lay on their mats relaxing in Savasana,feeling the sun on their faces and enjoying the opportunity to rest in nature, back of body to earth, front of body to the sky, energised and yet nurtured by the sun, what a magical way to begin a Sunday morning!!



Coming out of relaxation, we all sat together in one big circle, palm to palm - the hands being an extension of the heart space - eyes closed, and moving energy from one to the next all around the circle, before releasing hands and creating chi balls with the energy between the palms of our hands - the children/teenagers have been practicing this regularly at the end of our weekly children/teenage class and can now play with their chi balls, moving it from one hand to the next - before placing it to our heart space.



To end of the class, in honour of the women in Nepal who we are supporting, to ourselves and to our teachers for the gift of Yoga, we bowed forward in the pose of humility and chanted "Om" together to unify the energy at the end of the practice.



Most stayed to enjoy a hearty and wholesome vegetarian brunch lovingly prepared by my Mum and her helpers. In fact there was far too much food - freshly made muesli and a selection of cereals, cow's milk, rice milk and soya milk, organic natural cow's yogurt and soya yogurt, fresh organic and homegrown berries and apricots, as well as fresh pineapple and mango. And then a wide selection of breads and home-made jams and conserves, and homemade carrot and fig and almond cakes washed down with all sorts of teas, coffee and fruit juices. What a feast!!!

Of course the main intention for the class was to raise funds to support the Nepali Yoga Women's Trust, which was established by my friend and fellow Yoga teacher, Devika Gurung, and myself in 2007 in Pokhara, Nepal, to focus on overcoming the social issues women face in Nepal.



The role of Nepali women is mostly confined to their domestic obligations including cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the family. This lifestyle prevents them from maintaining a part-time job, contributing to the household income, and ultimately from living independent of male support.

The Trust provides opportunities for local women to discover and develop ways to improve their socio-economic situation. The women learn holistic therapies such as Yoga and holistic massage, self-healing techniques and handicraft skills. These activities provide them with a step towards inner-transformation and self-confidence.



Over time, the women become self-sufficient and less reliant on others and a regular income offers them economic independence. This allows the women to participate in family decisions and allocate money for personal needs and their children's education. In the future, it is hoped that these women will not only inspire other women to work for their independence, but will be in a position to train new participants in the Trust.

Please see http://www.nepaliyogawomentrust.org/home/ for further information.

I would just like to take this opportunity to say a huge, huge thank you to everyone who supported this year's Yoga "class on the grass" and donated so generously - plus of course a big thank you to my Mum and Dad, and to Nick, Gilli, Ewan and Sheila who gave so much of their time and energy to make the class and brunch such an enjoyable, nourishing and uplifting experience. Om Namah Shivaya.

Love and light.


xxxxx

The Solstice, Kings of Leon and Yoga in London and getting by with very little!

Well sadly the sun spent much of the summer solstice hidden behind the clouds, not ideal when I had set my alarm for 4am to watch sunrise!

Still it was a high spirited day, for one reason or another I taught 7 classes, one of which was at sunset on the field up at WildGuernsey to celebrate the Solstice - thank you Tara for having me to teach and for all the lovely vegetarian food and the chatter and sunset views. It is a special place up at WildGuernsey and I can not wait to teach Yoga in the Tipi and sit under the oak tree meditating.

Sadly the Solstice marked the passing of Gerry, my dear cousin, Yo's, husband, from cancer. I was blessed to spend 2 wonderful months living with Yo and Gerry on their smallholding in North Devon two summers ago, helping to tend the garden with him as well as going dowsing on the burial mounds in the area - such a loss, and no coincidence that he passed on the solstice.

On Thursday I went to London with my Dad for our annual music concert and this time we got to see White Lines, Paul Weller and the Kings of Leon play in Hyde Park that evening. As always it was great fun, a completely sober event for me and we only got a little wet earlier on in the evening. Thank you Dad! A huge thank you also to Chris and Rob for letting us stay in their wonderful flat at Shad Thames, near Tower Bridge, such a treat and much appreciated.



On Friday I headed up to Primrose Hill and enjoyed a Yoga class at TriYoga - it is always such a treat to be able to get to class when I am out of Guernsey. Dad met me and we walked all the way from Primrose Hill, through the Regent's Park, around the back of Oxford Street, along Harely street and St Christopher's place, and then all the way to Hyde Park to Victoria. A great stroll, I love looking around London and imagining what it would be like to live in any of those massive houses!!

Strangely my bag never made it with me on my flight on Thursday and I was reminded again how little we need in life to survive. In fact the only thing I really missed was some leggings, which I had to buy so I could attend class, and admittedly a comb would have been handy but I got by!! Funny how the Universe likes to remind us not to get too attached to anything, nor to accumulate to much and surround ourselves with clutter. It is rather liberating not having to decide what to wear each day!

Back on Guernsey we have spent the day enjoying the sunshine and getting ourselves ready for the Yoga "class on the grass" in the morning. Very exciting! We even managed a swim in the sea, so much warmer these days.

My love, prayers and thoughts are with you Yo. Keep shining.

xx

Nourishing the heart in London, back to Guernsey and Lihou Island

So, despite Hayley, Chris and I trekking out to Jerbourg for the lunar eclipse and full moon on Wednesday, the clouds were not in such a jovial mood and we were unable to see anything. Still we sat around chatting and laughing and absorbing the moon's energy as I was wired for the rest of the evening!!

Yesterday I went to London for the day with Jackie to attend Briget and Nikki's "Nourishing the heart: love, gratitude, celebration and healing session" at TriYoga in Soho. This was incredible. Led by Nikki, the Kirtan was fabulous, I could certainly feel the prana circulating, and Bridget held the space so beautifully and gently, that the heart was certainly nourished. It was wonderful to practice in the Anusara tradition again and get the blood pumping and the lungs working. Plus of course experience that deep inner peace that comes from such a heart-warming expression of the Divine.

So a huge thank you to Bridget and to Nikki, and also to the therapists whose healing hands adjusted throughout the day and whose energy permeated the studio so that I could easily have stayed if I didn't have a flight to catch...with love and grace.

The day clearly helped me to let go of something, I could feel the tiredness encroaching the deeper we travelled within. So it goes without saying that I slept for many hours last night and have felt tired all day. E and I managed a much needed swim off the slipway at Saints today and a walk over to Lihou Island where we saw some baby seagulls who are camouflaged like the rocks - very clever!!

Being Father's Day we enjoyed a lovely meal with my dad and extended family as his cousins are visiting from the UK. Families really do fascinate me and between them they have been studying our family tree and it seems us Despres' originate from Normandy, which may well explain my love of the place, before we ventured to Alderney (explains the madness perhaps!) and on to Jersey before settling here on good old Guernsey!

Let's pray for some sun this week then.

xxx

Normandy magic

I absolutely love staying with our friends, Tessa and Carl and their children Ollie and Evie, on their farm in Normandy, as we have just done this weekend.

There is something about Normandy that never fails to disappoint. I don't know whether it is the light or the nature of the green and tree abundant countryside, or the fact that it is so seemingly quiet and spacious, or simply the fact that the pace of life is considerably slower than the one we try and keep up with here on Guernsey. But whatever it is, I love it, it makes me slow right down and re-connect to the earth again.

This time is slowed me down so much that I was incapable of moving beyond the house on the Sunday. Not helped by my present poorly functioning immune system with all its skin allergies and reactions to that silly Nepali tick back in December. I mean there are dark nights of the soul and there are dark nights of the soul. I hope I pass this test soon and can move right on...to my new relaxed and "go with the flow" way of being (yes, Universe, I get the message!!!).

Anyhow we had so much fun. On the Saturday we went to Festival Papillons de Nuit, which is set on this fantastic hill so that you can sit on the grass and look down on the stages(for the lightweights like me who didn't feel like dancing!) and enjoy the music. Despite forecast rain, the weather stayed dry all afternoon and evening and the clouds were just amazing. I have this thing about clouds and I always find the clouds in Normandy to be particularly special and captivating.



The music was great. We saw Kaiser Chiefs, Jeff Lang, Beady Eye (now that was a surprise, no idea that was a Gallagher band) and the Klaxons before heading back home so the children could have a well deserved rest - they were so much fun to bring to the concert, I loved seeing Ollie getting stuck into some dancing and Evie wearing her fairy wings, totally appropriate for her fairy energy.

So Sunday we chilled out all day. It was raining and cold outside (what has happened to the summer?!) and everyone was a little tired from the excitement of the festival and battling with sore throats from the onset of the French bugs! Plus there is something quite lovely and nurturing about doing very little, and sitting by the fire in the kitchen watching Madagascar 2. E and I have never watched films like these so quite a revelation for both of us, so cute and funny!

I guess it is the simplicity of life I love, and of which I can only dream right now. As much as I love living on Guernsey, life does always seem to be rather hectic. Nowhere is far and sometimes that is the problem - it is possible to do far too much stuff and see far too many people in one day. When you live in a rural location you don't have the same option. Plus of course living on farm incorporates all those wonderful things like living from the land and eating all the fresh and organic produce in season. Yum. The eggs on the farm are just incredible, I have never seen yolks quite so yellow!



Anyhow Monday we picked up the pace a little and headed to the lovely town of Dinan for lunch. The weather was not ideal and we did spend a little while standing under trees for shelter from the rain! Dinan is sweet, albeit a tourist location, and we meandered around the medieval streets, checking out the churches and all that wonderful architecture. It felt more like winter than the summer however!



Monday evening and due to a mix up with the boats, E and I got to enjoy an unplanned evening in St Malo. I have never been a fan of this place always finding it super touristy and a little tacky in the process so it came as quite a surprise to really enjoy staying in the town that night. It had stopped raining and we chanced upon a cool cafe and then a great place to eat salads and crepes so we were both content. It was a lovely end to a wonderful weekend.

Thank you Tessa, Carl, Ollie and Evie for a lovely weekend. Back to the Guernsey-reality now!!

In fact it is full moon tonight - here's hoping you can also feel the energy. A time of endings and new beginnings. Best to just let go...I have a feeling this is a rather powerful moon so close to the summer solstice next week. All rather exciting!!

xxx

xxxx

London, the wonderful Julie Gudmestad and too much heat!

I have just spent a lovely inspiring and nurturing weekend in London, not only staying with one of my friend's, Hannah, but also attending Julie Gudmestad's Applied Yoga & Anatomy course at the Life Centre in Angel (www.gudmestadyoga.com).

Aside from my day trip to Redhill, I have not gotten off the Island (or rock as we tend to call it) since March, so a break was much needed - as much as I love Guernsey, one can begin to feel a little claustrophobic and trapped after a while, possibly a result of the lack of anonymity as much as anything else!

So it was fantastic to be anonymous in the big city once more (even if it was stupidly hot on the Saturday) and I managed to fit in a trip to my Ayurvedic doctor in South Croydon for a much needed catch up and advice about the ongoing saga of my skin since the tick bite in Nepal. As always Deepika was her usual lovely self, full of energy and wisdom. It is a pitta imbalance of course, makes perfect sense. Needless to say been doing/eating all the "wrong" things to promote this pitta imbalance - why does that always happen?!! Sigh!!

So no more running in the sun, no more spicy foods, no more tomatoes and carrots, no more midday sunbathing, no more chocolate and no more lettuce - argh, how will I cope, I eat lettuce with practically every meal, I love lettuce, it is one of my favourite foods. Yikes!! of course this isn't forever, just to find some sort of balance again. Phew. The worst bit is the smelly herbs I have to take for the next 2 weeks, about 6 times a day, it is awfully complicated and does encourage regular eating habits however!

Hannah is an angel and a most accommodating and welcoming host and I was spoiled rotten with lovely food, a comfortable bed, a lovely and hot shower and great company! She has gotten right into her garden recently and it is looking lovely - gone are the days where we tuck into a bottle of wine upon my arrival at her house - this time we were out watering and weeding the garden together, made me chuckle actually. She has this wonderful cherry tree overhanging into her garden, so we got to eat fresh cherries all weekend. Thank you Han, was really, really lovely to spend time with you.

The Yoga course was excellent too. I must admit that I sign up for these workshops and then I find that I get bored as the weekend progresses as I want to practice rather than simply sit there listening to the teacher. This workshop found the balance perfectly - Julie was very engaging, hugely real, truly inspirational and incredibly unassuming and humble. She is clearly a lady who not only knows her stuff, but has had lots of positive results putting her "stuff" into practice in both the physiotherapy and Yoga world. Of course I can't wait to out my new found knowledge and experience into practice.

Back on Guernsey now and the skin condition has kicked off again. I now have 2 boils...talk about excess pitta and fire in the body, no kidding. Quite unbelievable. Saw a doctor who actually made sense yesterday - thank you Dr Beverly (who also practices Yoga) - and so on yet another and final course of antibiotics to clear the infection. All from that tick bite. Not idea, the antibiotics kill all the good bacteria in the body and stress the liver, let alone all the other medication I have taken to numb the pain and the itching. And here I am trying to love a holistic life. Tested? Yes. Still all supports the idea of balance. No doubt the magical Ayurvedic herbs will kick in soon.

Of course being incapable of moving like this does have its positive side - what is it they say about blessings in disguise - means I get to lie around with hot compresses and nurture myself and try and do my bit for the healing process. Also means I have to let others help me (arggh, not so good at that one) and let go on all levels - so what is the recycling needs doing, or we need to go shopping, or the garden needs weeding, it can all wait until another day...how liberating!

Anyhow praying that everything comes to a head...and I can embrace my new relaxed and laid back attitude into my day to day life when I can move again!!

xxx

A day trip to the UK, new moon all up in the air

I accompanied my Dad and our cat, Bumble, on a private plane to the UK today flown and indeed owned by Mr P, a friend of my parents.

I have never flown on a twin engine light aircraft before and I must admit that it was all a little surreal, 7.30am this morning, sitting on the plane with my Dad beside me and the cat on the seat facing me in her box, not your every day experience!

Flying at 2,000 feet on such a beautifully clear morning was a joy - we got to see the shipping lanes (I had no idea there were so many ships out there!), fly over the Isle of Wight, and take in the views of London closer up to Biggin Hill.



From there we took a taxi through the beautifully green and tree-filled Surrey countryside to the veterinary centre where Bumble was booked for an eye operation with the top cat eye specialist in the UK - honestly, my friends in Nepal would find it really difficult to understand the trouble (and indeed the expense) my parents have gone through for one of their cats!

So while we waited for the cat to have her operation, Dad and I headed into Redhill and spent a few hours bumbling around. Not the most interesting of places to find ourselves but I still managed a little shopping and then we sat and watched the world go by and it crossed my mind how much diversity there is in this world and yet here we all are, just trying to survive.

Bumble's operation went well and we managed to get back to Biggin Hill by 4pm for our flight back to Guernsey. The weather was really warm and the skies a little cloudier than the morning, so we flew lower and jumped along quite a few hot air pockets as we flew down over the Downs and onwards to the coast over Portsmouth. Being so low the views were pretty cool, especially over the shipping lanes again and coming into Guernsey. Thank you Mr P for a wonderful trip and thank you to Bumble for being such a well behaved and inspiring cat!



Back in Guernsey, I went straight to teach and taught a grounding session, not only to bring me back to earth after my "up in the air" day, but also to ground the energy of today's New Moon - all good fun, thank you to those who attended and shared their uplifting energy. I ran back home to clear my head, I am really enjoying running at the moment and especially at this time of the day when there is little traffic and the sun is setting and the honeysuckle's scent fills the air. I feel very lucky to live over here in Guernsey, it is a true blessing.

x