Jivamuki and liberating the soul

This year is flying by, unbelievable! 

Sitting at Saint's Bay this morning with Elijah and Ewan and just watching the waves crash onto the beach, I was reflecting on my previous travels and all the time I seemed to have to do exactly that, day after day in Byron interspersed with yoga classes (sometimes 6 hours a day) and drinking chai, and then in Nepal sitting for hours at a time staring up at the mountains or out to the lake.

There is nothing quite like sitting on the beach to bring you back to earth a little.  This is the joy of nature, though, the fact it does exactly that, and what a beautiful start  to the morning.  Albeit rather cold as we went for a dip in the sea, the first time we have been in together for a long time, Elijah asleep (for the rare time all day) in his car seat on the beach!  It was cold, very cold!!

We had a random encounter with a young guy new to the Island as we left the beach.  He had arrived this morning from the Lake District to run the bar at a local hotel.  I always find it rather fascinating how people end up where they do and especially those that end up here on this tiny Island in the English Channel.  We gave him a lift to town and look forward to catching up with him in a few weeks time to see how things are going.

So life has been rather manic, work and sleep deprivation as Elijah regresses to two hourly feeds.  Still he is a joy, smiling and big blue eyes, just means that life passes so quickly by....he is 16 weeks already and I have so much more compassion and indeed awareness of the demands of working mothers and how precious to take time out for a yoga practice - and yet how imperative.

Oh yea, whilst it does indeed feel most decadent, it is almost a necessity - as much as a treat - to get to a weekly Sunday yoga class when Ewan takes Elijah to see his Mum. The trouble is I was so tired this morning  I could have done with an hour of relaxation!!!

My daily practice has changed considerably the last few weeks as I truly embrace the Jivamukti approach to yoga - I just love it, discovered with the wonderful Aram in Chelsea London, over a year ago now and then the wonderful Stewart Gilchrist (who I am trying to bring to the Island) a few months later.  Jivamukti means liberation of the soul and that is exactly what this practice does...it liberates my soul.  Physically demanding and flowing in nature, I just love the way it makes me feel.

I realise now that my practice has been stagnant for a while now. It happens.  But a stagnant practice means a  stagnant life...so things have changed.  My practice has changed, I have started addressing the blocks, the poses where I go, "urmmm, not for me today" and had a go at them anyway, and not just had a go but tried to stay in them too - how many times do we get into poses, think to ourselves "there we are, in that pose" and then drop out...and how many times do we not even try in the first place?

Well I can be as guilty of that as most in my home practice, which can get unintentionally lazy because there isn't anyone standing there telling me what to do next.  That is the thing with a home practice, you have to be disciplined.  And this is something else I have reflected upon today for I have finally recoded a CD for students to be able to practice from home...but of course there is still the need to be disciplined enough to take the time...I can feel an article coming on!!

I do love opening to Grace, taking homeopathic remedies, practicing Yoga, all those things that encourage transformation and indeed change - clearing out so Grace can indeed enter.  It doesn't mean life is any less uncomfortable at times, but it does mean that you open to the potentiality of life (and this in itself is uncomfortable and challenging!).  So life is changing, and those moments on the beach are precious, me and my boys, sitting and listening to the beautiful sound of the waves crashing on the beach.

"Fortune favours the brave" a 15 year old student quoted to me recently and this has stuck in my mind ever since, like a mantra, for she is so right, it is true, thank you Tabitha, you have truly inspired and indeed reminded.  Fits in nicely with the flowing and dynamic yoga and all that Shakti energy, creating in true female style, hoorah for md March and summer on its way!

Stay safe and stay happy.

Much gratitude.

xxx