More Yoga in New York

I have been having lots of fun with Hannah over the weekend here in New York. We managed a tourist trip up to the top of the Rockefeller building to take in the stunning views of Manhattan, we have been blessed with wonderful weather the last few days.

We walked and walked and walked, we pampered ourselves with manicures and pedicures (they are as popular in this city as Starbucks!) and we even managed to meet some friends of Hannah's and go to the theatre in West Village, a gay production no less, really good night, especially as we chanced upon this amazing angel and crystal shop. Hannah said I went into a trance and while we were somewhat limited for time I was completely oblivious to her trying to usher me out the door - obviously we invested in some crystals and her some more angel cards, bliss!!


On Sunday we met more friends for brunch at Jules Bistro set to live jazz, great stuff, lovely to see Shane and meet new friends. From there Union Square and some shopping because Hannah knows how to shop, it is indeed her passion and I am amazed how it can become so very addictive with all the deals everywhere! This time we chanced upon "Namaste" this incredible book shop with yet more crystals and cards and incense and music and all that stuff I love, so of course I have been back on my own since!!

Today while Hannah worked, I went to Yoga. Big style. Four hours in fact. I started with the intermediate class with Joe, the anatomy teacher on the Om Yoga teacher training course. I attended one of Joe's classes last time I was in town and like that time he inspired me again today with his intricate knowledge of the workings of the body when applied to Yoga asana.

He made a very subtle adjustment to my Tadasana, which has been a revelation for me in so many ways since. Initially I was wondering what effect he was trying to create by making this adjustment and then of course I felt it in my body, and then intellectualised it with my mind. And all of a sudden it dawned on me how important it is to play around with the manner in which we "hold" poses, how a subtle shift in alignment, can create a subtle shift in awareness, which can create, perhaps, a subtle shift in energy and with that, a shift in our life.

It sounds ridiculous perhaps, but the mind is in the body and it is also an instrument for the spirit. I have questioned this last year where we are aiming to go with our practice, should we always be trying to progress to new postures, or should we be content with where we are, and where we have been, does the emphasis move to sitting with the breath, to meditation, does asana drop away? Well all I can say is that for me, the body is the gateway, it works for me, right now and there is nothing wrong with that, we all reach our nirvana in different ways.

It reminded me. Many times while teaching more challenging poses I hear myself saying to students that perhaps it won't so life changing to actually eb able to do that pose. And in many respects I still believe that is true. in so much as it is not the "achievement" of poses that is important, but more so that we have practiced, that we are present, that we are mindful with our breath as we ease ourselves into new territory. If we are doing the pose without awareness, without the breath and perhaps merely through habit then I guess it won't be so life changing. The energy won't have shifted with the mind and the body.



One must remember the importnace of the journey, the small steps that ultimately create the transformation, because then there is not so much effort, it is more subtle. It is possible when seeing people trying the more challenging poses that they force and puff and pant their way into the pose, to be able to say they have done this pose or that pose. But really is that achieving very much? Unlikely. Better to go slowly, take the time and when the time comes so it will be. It is like Pattabhi Jois said, "practice and all will come".

And I think the point is that each asana does really have the potential to transform our life. It doesn't have to be that we can do the most amazing looking postures, or be the strongest person in the class, it can be as small as shifting the way we stand, just a millimeter of pressure change from heels and toes and back again can affect our energy, our connection with the earth, our root chakra and therefore the root chakra elements to our life. Perhaps we feel more grounded to the earth, more connected to our family and perhaps even more so, centered within ourselves. This, for me, is the key. how wonderful does it feel to be centered?!

I stayed and took the advanced class with Ani. This was a joy. I must admit within the first thirty minutes I was thinking, "oh no, not more sun salutations and planks and vasisthasana" but actually my body loves them, it always has, and at home in my own practice I don't challenge myself like this, if it starts to get uncomfortable I stop. You witness this in class when teaching, it is not that the body gets uncomfortable (although often it does and one does need to stop if an injury is likely) but the mind gets uncomfortable and wants to stop, it doesn't always like going out of the comfort zone. How can we transform and allow the soul to shine if we stay stuck in a comfort zone?

What I also noticed in class today was something I read about in a Yoga magazine a few weeks ago. There are good students and bad students and often teachers are bad students, because they don't do what they are told, more so they do what they want to do. It is not just teachers, I do have some students in my classes who are prone to leading at their own pace, to rushing through postures to reach an end, whatever that may be, rather than listening to the instruction and being led, allowing their awareness to be in the body and in the moment, rather than in their head. And today was no different with students beside me leaping into handstand before finishing their sun salutation and sneaking in a head stand while in prasrita padottansana.

It was an advanced class but this didn't mean that we did ten more sun salutations than we would do in an intermediate class, or that we held poses for longer, if anything the "advanced" means more subtle. More subtle movements, more control and awareness of space on the mat as we flowed from one pose to the next, and yes of course a few more challenging poses, some arm balances I don't get the opportunity to practice with teaching instruction, and of course more inversions and back bends. It really was a joy and I left the centre feeling taller, lighter, clearer and more energised. I love it!!

A huge thank you to the om Yoga teachers who have blessed me with their knowledge and energy, they are indeed special teachers, I am learning a lot from them, not only as a student but for my teachings too. Om Namah Shivaya.

It is my last day tomorrow so I have booked in for another 4 hours of Yoga and if I am really lucky one of those may well be with Cyndi Lee, whose books and music have inspired me so much these last few months.

xxxxxxxxx

Om Yoga, it is good to be back in New York!

So I arrived in New York yesterday afternoon, it was quite a long day with the early morning Guernsey start and the transfer on to Heathrow before flying out to JFK. It is funny, I used to get so excited about travelling on aeroplanes but these days, after 6 years of a lot of travelling, I dread the thought of being stuck on a plane in one of those small seats for longer than a few hours!

Anyhow, fortunately (thank you travel angels), the flight wasn't very busy and I had a whole row to myself to stretch my legs and spread out! Probably just as well actually, I finally succumbed to a cough and cold over the weekend, the first in ages, and I am not sure it would have been fair to inflict my sniffing and coughing over some poor stranger!

So I arrived into JFK and it felt familiar immediately, Ewan and I were only here in March last year so it has been too long between trips. I got a taxi to Hannah's apartment down near the Staten Island Ferry, a few roads away from the infamous Wall Street. So I am staying in the heart of the financial district in Hannah's incredible apartment with views of the sea in one direction and strangely, and yet interestingly, into offices straight across.

It is quite nice to be sitting here with people working across the street and knowing that I am on holiday!! What I did notice last night was that contrary to what I may have heard about New York, the offices were clear by 7pm and there weren't many people in them before 8am this morning. And what I found rather fascinating was the fact more of the lights were left on all night - presume this is security - and even television screens...perhaps a waste of energy I would have thought. But there you go, the excesses of the material world!

I got the metro up to Union Square this morning and sat in the square indulging in a Starbucks tea watching the world go by - it was so much quieter than when we were last here in March - before having a quick whirl around the wonderful and huge Wholefoods. I do get rather excited about these health stores, there is just so much choice and I particularly enjoy the massive salad bars. Thankfully I was limited by time so didn't indulge beyond the necessities.

I headed to Yoga of course, Om Yoga, founded by the inspiring Cyndi Lee. I attended classes at this centre in March and I just feel drawn to return. The centre is on Broadway next to Strands, the oldest book store in the city and right up on the 6th floor so you have to get an elevator to get to class! The centre has a fantastic energy to it, really calming with about 4 studios, a large changing room, a few seated areas and somewhere to buy books and clothes etc.



Cyndi originally trained as a dancer and offers a unique brand of Yoga instruction combining creative and invigorating flow sequences that emphasise precise alignment of the body. She does it all with a clear focus on Buddhist teachings of mindfulness and compassion. The Om Yoga teacher training program is known as the Ivy League of Yoga teacher trainings and the teachers at her centre are really inspiring.

Today, it was an intermediate/advanced class taught by Frank, whose class I have attended in the past. It was great. There is no denying the fact that I absolutely love attending Yoga classes overseas! I love the anonymity and the fact I can just stay silent the whole session and really go within. I love listening and learning from new teachers and new sequences. And I particularly love to be encouraged beyond my comfort zone and into new areas of feeling.

So it was great. Lots of vinyasas, flowing standing poses with twists and turns, handstands, backbends, lots of hip openers, a supported fish pose and a shoulderstand before final relaxation. Bliss. Note to self, prioritise attending Yoga classes overseas more often!!

After Yoga and feeling much clearer, brighter and energised, I walked down Broadway all the way back to Hannah's, right at the end. I guess it would probably take an hour, only I kept stopping to look in shops along the way, I couldn't resist, there seem to be sales on all over the place.

It is so cool to be here, especially as I am not so much a tourist this time, which creates a whole different experience and of course it helps that it is rather familiar as Ewan and I did so much when we were last here. I am amused by all the stands at the side of the pavement selling food, some of the smells are nauseating, but all add to the New York ambiance!! And then there are the sirens and all yellow cabs and all that stuff we don't get at home. It is great!


So now I have crashed on the sofa, enjoying some time out on my own with views of the sea and the ferries, and hoping that the jet lag eases so I can stay awake when we go out for dinner later to meet a friend from Guernsey!

Tomorrow, more Yoga and even a Phoenix Rising Yoga therapy session all to myself, excited? Just a bit!!

It is all about the practice.

Love and light

x

Recycle, recycle, recycle!!!

Yesterday morning E and I took a truck load down to the tip at Chouet. E goes down regularly for work and sometimes I join him, this time it was to help clear some stuff for my parents and from around here - seems everyone is getting stuck into this decluttering energy!!

The tip blows my mind. Not least the number of seagulls, which is simply unbelievable, but also the thought of what on earth happens when it is filled up - and more to the point, what on earth are we filling it up with?!

I took some photos before I got told off as it is apparently a no-photo zone, understandable, but all the same, the seagulls were blowing my mind and I was ever so slightly incensed to noticing recyclable objects being buried in the earth. I mean seriously, is it so very time consuming and difficult to recycle?

If only we could all take a little more responsibility for our impact on this planet and make an effort to recycle where we can. I know there are arguments that recycling doesn't make that much difference, but I do think it makes us more conscious of our own waste and how we create this depending on what we buy and how it is packaged. I am very aware, for example, of the excessive plastic packaging on food stuffs from one retail outlet, and try and avoid that where I can, and of course recycle where I can too.

I believe it is worth everyone taking a trip to the tip and really considering what goes into the earth. One day that landfill will be filled and then what, we start sending our waste to Jersey, where it gets burnt and showers Guernsey with ash instead. you can't win, all you can do, is your little bit to reduce waste, recycle where you can, and not just food stuffs but furniture and all that stuff that gets thrown out without a thought for where it ends up in the long run.

Hmmm.

So aside from tip visiting, we managed a run on the cliffs this morning, quite an uplifting and energising way to start the morning,e specially as we didn't see a sole. I would be lying to say I found it a pleasurable experience, yes it was lovely to be on the cliffs, in the fresh air and see nature unfold around me, but it is tough running on those cliffs and I was more than happy to reach the car at the end!! I stretched out during my practice thereafter and have felt quite awake and uplifted the whole day - there is clearly much benefit to this exercise and fresh air malarkey!

Sadly I have made the decision to cancel the proposed Yoga & Wellbeing retreat on Guernsey scheduled for March. Unfortunately there was simply not enough interest to warrant a retreat, which is a real shame as it had been a dream a few years ago to hold a retreat on Guernsey, but sometimes things are just not meant to be, and I must remember that quote about trying to fix something when it isn't broken, as I do so love the Herm retreats and Herm really is the ideal location. As for dreams, well these change with time and the dreams I have now, are different to the dreams I used to have...its a funny old life...the key is knowing when to let go of a dream to make space for the new one to come in. Thank you to everyone who has supported me with the Guernsey retreat, we live and learn, and if we don't try, we never know!!

So there we go. Here I am ranting about recycling and caring for the planet when I know that I am flying out to New York on Wednesday to visit Hannah and undertake some Yoga training for a week. Just as well E and I keep planting trees, balances it all out somehow!! I bought seeds with Mum on Friday too, so all being well tomorrow we can begin the seed planting season and look forward to an abundant summer of fruits and vegetables ahead!!

Keep warm and keep recycling.

Beautiful winter days

Well what wonderful weather we have experienced the last few days in Guernsey, those lovely crisp and bright winter day with colourful sunrise and sunset skies and bright stars in the evening. Love it! It has certainly been an action-packed week.

I managed my first swim in the sea of the Year last Wednesday. It was high tide and a bright and clear morning down at Petit Bot and really there was no excuse, especially as someone else turned up while I was getting changed, which was a good thing as it made me swim for longer than I would have done on my own. It was cold!!
I repeated the experience again on Sunday, down at Vazon this time, but it was really cold and I got a bit freaked out about all the sea weed and being down there on my own - ridiculous really, what on earth is there to be fearful about!!

On Wednesday evening I played my first netball game for over 7 years, it was not long after I started Yoga that I stopped playing netball, which had actually been my passion up until then. It was hard work but so much fun! I ended up playing centre in a first division game, which means I had to run around lots, and could barely move the next two days - not convinced this exercise malarkey is really that good for you!!

E bought me a House and Homes magazine, which has this section in it about decluttering. It is not that I was conscious of needing to declutter the house, but clearly a seed had already been sown, because on Saturday that is exactly what I did. The thing is, we helped someone to move house the weekend before and that made me very aware of the fact we tend to hold on to lots of stuff that just takes up space.

I finally retrieved my book cases and all my Yoga and holistic books from storage and unpacked them all in the Yoga room which I am blessed to have in the cottage. Wow, how cool to finally have access to all these books. I must admit I did something I have never done before, I actually sorted through the books I no longer reference with the idea of giving them to students who may be interested in reading them themselves - I don't see the point in storing books in a book case that you are unlikely to ever read or reference, better to let someone else benefit from their knowledge instead.

I sorted through all my old files and paperwork and threw out stuff that I no longer need, so much paper, such a waste, although I did a recycling run so hopefully that balances things out a little. We took some old furniture down to the reclamation Yard, what a cool place, I got a new lamp which someone had thrown away and yet there is nothing wrong with it. I am always amazed by the number of people rummaging around, such a great way to recycle and give others the opportunity to benefit from those things you no longer want yourself. It is refreshing to declutter, just changes the energy, not so much stuff getting in the way, letting go of the past to make more room for the present.

E and I managed a bike ride on Sunday around the lanes in St Martins and St Andrews. He took me to places I have never been before, all so cool and no one else walking about, I discovered this wonderful lane with stunning views of the Islands and some wonderful property, called Gypsy Lane. I love to get off the beaten path over here in Guernsey as we are truly blessed with some amazing views, and also it tends to be so quiet - I wonder if it is because the cliffs etc are directly on our doorstep so we don't always feel to get out on them. Such a shame as they are a gem for Guernsey - mind you the less people on them the quieter for those who do use them!

Willow is doing well out in Australia and Ross is a very proud Dad, ever so sweet and I can't wait to have a cuddle in March when we visit.

It was another busy class last night - well done to everyone for sticking with it, really good practice, lots of integrity. I look forward to seeing those who are taking their time to get going this year, it is difficult to doubt the benefit of a regular Yoga practice.

The sun enters Aquarius this week, see this link for further information http://realastrologers.com/weekly-forecast-january-16-sun-enters-aquarius?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Realastrologerscom+%28realastrologers.com%29

Happy week!

xx

Full moon, full moon

It was the full moon yesterday and what a joy it was to watch it rising before I taught the first evening Yoga class of the Year.

Thank you to all of you who made the class, I believe we had a record number in the room, so much so that we had the windows and door open, unheard of in January usually, what with all this mild weather.

After class I joined Chris and Hayley for a full moon get together, lovely food, great company and the full moon energy, I slept better than I have done all week last night...phew, I hadn't quite appreciated what an "up in the air" start it has been to the new year, everything getting jumbled up and now coming down to land again!

Back at home I stood in the garden under the moon's rays, a wolfing moon last night, and enjoyed the clear skies and the stars shining over head. You can't help but feel the "pick up" of energy and delight in the wonder of nature's creation.

This weather continues to fascinate me. There are primroses growing on the hedgerow on the walk into town from here. And the daffodils are coming out in the front garden, and still there are holly berries on the holly tree. It is all a reminder to go with the flow and adapt to the conditions presented.

Anyhow enough of my waffle, happy practising everyone.

xx

Welcome Willow, my beautiful niece xxxxxx

What a way to start the New Year, all those winds and in the midst of the chaos becoming an auntie! A massive congratulations to my brother, Ross, and his partner, Star, who have brought my beautiful niece, Willow Ash, into the world on 5th January in the utopia that is Byron Bay, Australia.

It is funny how life works. I first visited Byron in my mid twenties on my first trip to Australia, a trip that I had dreamt about since I was 10 years old. I didn't know it at that time, when I was 10 that is, but Australia has played such a pivotal role in my life...I guess on some level the calling was there.

So my friend Hayley and I went out to Australia for 2.5 weeks and for some reason or another noticed Byron in the Lonely Planet and made a trip from Sydney. I was a finance girl back then but was blown away by the alternative and hippy side to life in Byron. We indulged in tarot card readings and made the most of the sunshine. Back then I was not really aware of Yoga.

I became aware a few years later when I was working in Auckland and came across a Yoga studio and got as far as the front door before I got scared away thinking I wasn't flexible enough to attend the class. A year later and I found myself in Freemantle near Perth, Australia, with my brother, and I came across an alternative shop and brought my first meditation book.

Roll on a year later and after running the London Marathon, I knew I needed to do something to release my aching body and someone mentioned Yoga and so with my brother making sure I went in the door this time, the two of us began our Yoga journey together in St Martins hall here in Guernsey with the wonderful Ness. I was hooked immediately and started enticing friends along with me so that Vicki started attending (and has since gone on to train as a yoga teacher) and Claire and a plethora of other friends.

A year later, when I was 29 and frustrated by my finance life, I decided all I wanted to do was take time out to travel, practice Yoga and write about it. This timing coincided with Ross deciding he too wanted to take a break from his pressured IT job on Guernsey so we sold our house and while he went off to Australia with his girlfriend at that time, I decided to go out to Australia on my own. And strangely while I didn't really appreciate that Byron was a bit of a Yoga utopia at that time, I knew I needed to go there and the Yoga presented itself.

Ross joined me and while I immersed myself in the Yoga scene (strangely with John Ogilvie who was married to a Guernsey lady (and more strangely I now live next to her brother here in Guernsey!) at a studio right next to the hostel I was staying) while Ross immersed himself in the wonderful surf that Byron offers. We both started surfing when I was 14 and he was 12, our Dad has been a keen surfer in his earlier years and for his 40th Mum had bought him a longboard and as he got back into surfing both Ross and I got into it too.

A year later and I found myself back in Byron, for 5 months this time, undertaking my Yoga teacher training with the wonderfully inspiring Lance Schuler and doing a brief apprenticeship with John. By this time Ross was living with one of our mutual friends (whose Mum was my Mum's best friend at University and who is one of my best friends as life happens) and working in London completely at a loose end having broken up with his girlfriend and not really knowing what to do next.

I will never forget the conversation I had with him one day, telling him to just come out and join me in Byron. Of course he was resistant at the time, couldn't see the wood through the trees but I was in that world where everything is possible. As it happened our surrogate little sister, Claire, (also a surfer who grew up with us in the same clos here in Guernsey) was coming out to join me for 6 weeks over Christmas in between jobs and I suspect this swung it for Ross.

So the three of us lived together in a room in the hostel at Belongil on the beach in Byron enjoying the Yoga, the surfing and the alternative life generally. My best friend, Lou, and her husband Dave were travelling around the world at that time and joined us in Byron for a few weeks. What utter bliss, my most favourite people in the world (bar my folks) all together in Byron enjoying its energy.

However all good things must come to an end. By this time I was cleaning in the hostel to cover my accommodation costs and while a part of me wanted to stay in Byron another part was homesick for Guernsey. A combination of the wake-up call of Lance telling me to go home and start teaching and my Dad also saying the same thing made me realise it was time to move on.

So I followed Claire back to Guernsey and while she married her South African husband I started Be inspired and began my Yoga teaching journey. Ross stayed in Byron and got back into Yoga. In fact so much so that he signed up for a Yoga teacher training course with John, which Star had also signed up to!

I went to visit him for 6 weeks after his course and stayed with him in the hostel where he was still living and now working himself. I met Star that trip too. Little did I know that they would end up getting together and while he did come home for a few months and worked with Dad and I setting up Spearpoint Limited, an investment and wealth management company where I am currently working again (plus my friend and fellow Yoga teacher Vicki, too, many coincidences!), he returned to Byron and spent a few years teaching Yoga and working in a cafe.

I actually went out again two and a half years ago to visit Ross and meet my friend Hayley, with whom I had initially visited Byron before we travelled onto Hawaii and from there San Francisco with Hannah, my best friend with whom Ross had lived in London. Far too many connections and coincidences!) In any event Ross and Star were very settled by then, both teaching Yoga at John's centre and enjoying their life in Byron together. Very much together and how lovely for me to have a connection with an Australian kindred spirit, wiccan, yogic, female and my brother...

A year later they both came to Guernsey with Star's daughter, Adena, after travelling through Asia and visiting all the friends I have made in Nepal (where I have spent many months, my parents visiting too) and now here they are back in Byron, Ross now working back in IT in Brisbane and Star teaching pregnancy Yoga and trained as a doula, and creating the wonderful Willow.

I am not sure the reason I feel to write all this, other than to put in words how life is full of such incredible connections. Plus of course how Yoga has shaped my life and that of Star and Ross both on and indeed off the mat in many places around the world. I believe the incredible healing energy of Byron plays a role in all of this - I was once told that Byron (the most easterly point in mainland Australia) was the place that many women went to give birth...it has that energy of healing and creation, which perhaps is the reason so many people feel drawn to visit. It is a bubble, but I just wish it wasn't so far away!

Still one adjusts to life lived beyond time and space. My best friends are currently spread all over the world. Hayley is now living in Perth, Australia, Hannah in New York, Lou in Edinburgh and my other lovely friend, Sam, is in Canada. So it means I have many opportunities to travel the world to see those I love.

So while I am going to New York to visit Hannah later in the month and indulge in some wonderful New York yoga (second time in a year, how lucky am I?!) I have to wait until March to cuddle Willow when my parents get to visit Byron for the first time and I take Ewan with me, his second visit as it strangely happens!

So you see Yoga offers so much potential beyond one's daily asana practise on the mat. It shapes our lives. It provides us with the ability to cope with so much change. I am forever indebted for the divine guidance that has shaped, and continues to shape, my life and the lives of those around me. We have all been touched by its magic and that of Reiki too of course.

And onto Reiki. Over the last few days with the winds blowing madly outside I have channelled Reiki to a few clients and whether it is complete coincidence or not (not that I believe in coincidences, they are perhaps nudges from the Universe)every client has bee totally ungrounded. It feels to me like the wind has uprooted all of us, a little like so many trees, so that we are all hanging in the air. And now it is calming we are all coming back to land with all the cobwebs blown away - I see it in the events of people's lives around me, mine included, it has been so unsettling and yet so cleansing...in the long run, believe me. This is the year of reckoning, the year of change...we have been told this for a few years now, now we have to accept the changes...

But I have to say I find this whole weather thing fascinating. A French student was telling me how the French Mistral sends people mad so that suicide rates increase and another told me how you have dog days in New York where it gets so hot and the beer can't quite quench the thirst and the wife is waffling on in your ear and the domestic violence rates increase...Little do we realise how the elements are affecting our behaviour...

So it is the first full moon of the year on Monday. I am praying for clear weather to embrace her energy and be mesmerised by her glory and cleanse my crystals! It is also an ormer tide here on Guernsey too, but I can't bring myself to get involved in that, love the concept of being in the elements but I get bored of the cold easily and can't kill the poor things in any event. Still I am looking forward to celebrating the full moon with Chris and Hayley after Yoga that evening.

So sit tight everyone, enjoy the moment, be kind to yourself and the world, pray, live presently and enjoy what you have without worrying about what you don't have.

As Snowpatrol sing, "we are the light, we are the light, we are the light, we are the light...".

I love you Ross. And I am so incredibly honoured to be Willow's Godmother, I shall do all I can to support her spiritual development. Love to you too Star, for making my brother so happy and spreading the light a little further. xx

So let's all keep practicing and dreaming and letting the Yogic and Reiki energy flow.

xxxx

A storming way to start the New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone, I hope this year continues to bring much joy, peace, laughter, love and light!

Ewan and I celebrated the New Year in France with our friends Tessa and Carl, their children and a few of their friends on their farm in Normandy.

It was a wonderful way to end 2011 and begin 2012. Admittedly the ferry crossings were not their best, delayed on the way there so we didn't arrive into the farm until a couple of minutes before midnight (just in time to spend the last few minutes of Carl's birthday with him!) and delayed significantly on the way home so that we actually had a few unexpected hours in Jersey!

Still all good fun and an incredibly relaxing and laid back way to start what I hope will be a relaxing year ahead. While everyone went off to visit puppies on the morning of New Year's Eve, I was fortunate to enjoy an hour or so in the farmhouse on my own where it was just so beautifully quiet, practicing Yoga on my mat in front of wonderful views of the farm land and the rolling green landscape punctuated with trees in the distance. Bliss.



I meditated on those aspects of 2011 I wanted to leave behind as well as considering my intentions for the year ahead. I did my own Reiki burning bowl ceremony, improvised of course, the paper went up in the log burning fire rather than a bowl itself, but the intention and energy was still there and I look forward to manifesting those intetions during the New Year. They say this is the Year of reckoning after all.

Not that this means the end of the world per se, more so the end of the world as it is currently lived - a shift in attitude threfore, which will make life feel different, but not in a fearful way. I mean we have started to see this already with the whole financial crisis and our attitude to debt changing. Plus of course the fact so many of us are going back to basics, and not just us alternative hippy yogi types, but society generally. So many now grow their own veg and recycle in their homes, let alone have some consideration to how they spend their money these days. I guess it is simply a paradigm shift in our perception of life...I find it very exciting and shall be monitoring it closely over the year ahead.


So we celebrated New Year in the farmhouse, both the French New Year and the British one too! We had brought lobsters, crab and some Guernsey bread with us and Tessa had arranged a huge seafood platter plus her homemade goat's cheese with caviar and smoked salmon and then others brought food too, so it was one big fest washed down with lots of bubbles. Bliss!! I thoroughly enjoyed muyself, despite feeling a little tired the next day!!

New Year's Day and it was still raining. Talk about cleansing!! We managed a walk during a brief break from the rain and went to visit one of the river's near to where Tessa and Carl live - wow, it was certainly flowing with some power and actually the next day when we were driving back to St Malo, we noticed quite a bit of flooding around the river in Ducey. Seems like the heavens have opened the way into New Year.


We managed to fit in some reading time, which I love, a couple of inspiring Yoga magazines and this great book Carl has on Yoga so that I was able to be led by anopther during my New Year self practice. I am reading a Yoga therapy book in the Desikachar tradition, fascinating stuff, very inspiring, as I love to try new approaches to my practice but am limited somewhat in access to teachers living on an Island, so I am always delighted to find books which become my teacher.

So now here we are back at home and now of course the winds, blowing away all those cobwebs and blowing us into the New Year!!

So a huge thank you to Tessa, Carl, Evie and Ollie for having us to stay and also to Ewan for looking after me on those stormy seas.

Happy New Year, may it be full of love, light, magic and miracles for all of us this year.

xxxxI