Hope

That the world is an unwieldy and sometimes frightening place is not in doubt. It has always been this way, as any cursory glance at myth, legend and history will tell you.

The trouble is that clenching yourself up, whether as a fist to smash or a stone to hide, is never the answer. You cannot control your way through life, for it happens anyway; it is the clear blue sky from which the plane fell, as Joan Didion has written.

The disasters you think you are preparing for never happen, and nothing could have prepared you for the ones that did.

And yet you coped. And yet you lived on. Loved on.

The result of that difficulty and pain is the wisdom and compassion you now have, which is a gift to everyone you meet.

The answer to the question of what to do in the face of a difficult world is to stay open and hopeful.

Hope is optimism and the belief that good things will come again, but hope also means trust. Trust that you are strong enough to thrive here; trust in your little life, which is so important to so many; trust in doing the simple things that restore you to yourself and inspire you.

Yoga Tribe

We are born into one tribe and we make for ourselves another. We have it here in our yoga community. It is a tribe that encompasses all kinds of people, some with disabilities, others who face mental health challenges, others who face nothing more than the everday challenge of being human in a difficult world.

Yoga is not and has never been a religion, and this gives us so much freedom. In our tribe there are people who are practising Christians, Sikhs, Muslims. There are also atheists and agnostics. Because yoga espouses the view that all paths lead to unity, we are free to choose our own path to peace and freedom, and to allow others to pursue theirs without judgement.

What we share in our tribe is a yearning for more humanity and compassion in our interactions with the world. We support each other online and in person, through classes, trainings, retreats and communications. I love to hear that students from class, who only know each other through class, have become friends. What better place to meet like-minded souls than in yoga classes real or virtual.

Our tribe extends across continents and it constantly shifts - people become more or less active within the tribe, but they never disappear completely. We cross-pollinate, so that people who practise online meet in person on retreat or in workshops, or students in different countries come to know one another through social media.

The unity of this tribe has come as a wonderful surprise to me. It is a brilliant thing to post a photograph of one of my young special needs students and for them to receive encouragement and pride from other members of the tribe.

When we tell our honest stories and feelings to the world we might be misunderstood or dismissed, but within our tribe someone will thank you for it. There is humour, kindness and acceptance here. It is a place in which to belong.

Looking After You

It has been a lovely summer of yoga for me … two blissful retreats in Sweden and one happy weekend in Menorca. It has been wonderful to see all those beautiful faces and to connect with friends old and new.

There is much to celebrate when when we come together on retreat: the simple joy of yoga is reawakened, there is a lot of laughter, acceptance of challenge, sometimes healthy tears and always space for quiet reflection. We get deeply into the root of peace and we stay there. We are cared for by our teacher and by those who prepare our meals for us.

We need this. Now more than ever.

For I have seen this summer how we are embattled, exhausted and struggling. We are smiling, we are lucky and we are grateful. But the last three years have been long and hard and we never really got a chance to catch up from one thing before the next thing came to overwhelm us.

Our bodies are telling the story of these past few years in tightened jaws and raised shoulders, in weak middles and a thousand creaks and groans. We have neglected ourselves. We have moved, kept fit, done our practice, but that deep river of peace within has been harder and harder to find.

Consequently, I saw much more gentleness in students this year and a real need for deep peace and silence. I saw people remember that they are stronger than they think (so hard to remember when life feels like a struggle). Others realised they’d drifted away from their practice and found themselves coming home once more to their body, soul and sense of love and joy.

Maybe next year you will join us in Sweden or in Spain and that will be wonderful. But maybe right now, this weekend what you need is your own retreat from the world, from the pressure, from your endless thinking. Imagine your teacher with you, how she puts her hand on your back to calm you, how she smiles at you because she loves you, how she encourages you to believe that you are already enough and that all of the striving only moves you further away from your goal. Breathe deeply: into your back, down to your boots, softly and for a long time.

Give yourself a break and hold yourself kindly in your own embrace.

Namaste x