We have arrived!!!
Perth has opened her beautiful warm and sunny arms to greet us and very warmly welcome us. We are staying with a good friend, Debs, in a lovely beach suburb called Scarborough. We are so thankful to have such kind friends here to help us out. It is a strange feeling to finally be here and something that I wanted to write about. How do we cope and manage huge change and transition? How do you look after yourself? Throughout the year this has been a strong theme in my blogs and of course the transition is nowhere close to being over for us now we are in Australia.
It’s a challenging time but one that I know is worth it, which does make it easier to keep moving forward. I have moved many times in my life, from living in nearly 30 different houses so far, to moving continents and leaving family and friends to moving jobs. It is only through my Yoga practice both on and off the mat that I am able to make such changes and live the life I lead. Here’s how….
Each time there seems to be similar themes which can be easily translated into everyday life:
Take each day as it comes and remember each action builds the new picture
Being mindful is key in times of creating change. Knowing how you would like to feel and what you would like to create and then taking action on this is key. My mind does wander into the ‘wow this is massive, we need to sort this and that and that….’ But I then remind myself of the importance at this stage of keeping it simple and mindfully doing what I need to do
Balancing the nervous system
For me this is one of the easiest things to do. The first day I arrived I led down, played some gorgeous relaxing music by Deuter and focused on my breathing. Of course initially my mind wanders to this and that and this is the easy bit- with the right music it will do the job for you. Eventually your brain receives the messages for it to relax from the vibration and sounds of the music. After half an hour I found it easy to relax and focus on my breathe and finally felt energised and rebalanced.
Gentle and daily movement
Each day I run through a series of short restorative back stretches. (There’s a video on the way with this or have a look at the Spinal Care Course for the Restorative Yoga videos) I do the movements in bed as I am short of space to put a full yoga mat down at the moment.
After a few days as my energy has started to return I have incorporated a longer yoga practice into my day. It felt so good to be stood on the mat, feeling into my feet knowing that connecting with the present moment always gives me a sense of peace and inner stillness (eventually). I practised some of the postures from the Online Mindful Yoga Course, the Triangle, the Bridge, The Cat – actually lots of postures that I felt guided to do.
Being out in nature
Each day we are able to walk out into nature whether amongst the trees, taking dips in the ocean (I’m still getting used to the ocean as the currents are quite strong where we are) or lying on the ground somewhere imagining a strong connection to the earth beneath your body. Nature is such a good place to be to come back into balance and wherever you are there is always some ways you can connect with nature for free. The picture here is where we have filmed our first lesson for our Online Restorative Yoga Course which is due out by the end of December. It’s called Herdsman Lake just outside of Perth city centre. It’s a beautiful spot and as we arrived to film we came across a long necked tortoise on the path which sadly, and surprisingly, ran away really quickly once it saw us.
The little things that make a big difference
I decided to buy myself some natural products that didn’t cost too much so I could have a pamper session. I bought some gorgeous smelling shower gel and some organic coconut oil to put on afterwards. In Ayurveda (the sister of yoga in health terms) hot oils are used to balance the nervous system. I choose to use coconut oil as it’s particularly beneficial for the for your skin when you have been in the sun. It prevents water from leaving the skin so it helps to keep your skin moist and it has Vitamin E which is great for keeping your skin healthy. It also felt like a way to deeply nourish myself from the outside in. These little actions that we can do are so important for our own self care. Here’s an article with more details of the benefits of coconut oil.
Cooking meals
Al and I bought some delicious food to cook for our lovely friend Debs who is looking after us at the moment. We did a Thai Cooking Course in Thailand so decided to make the same food which was delicious – Chicken and Cashew nuts and vegetables. Cooking is a fantastic was to feel at home and grounded and it felt good to be back into the kitchen. It is important for us to make sure the food we eat is highly nutritious to support us physically, mentally and give us the energy we need to keep going.
So that’s my first week done. Keep an eye out for the next 10 minute restorative video which we filmed in Thailand and our social media posts showing where we are. You can join the Soul Harmony Yoga Facebook page to keep in touch and find out when our next blog is, or a free course or additions to our Online Courses. The theme for December is all about Restorative Yoga – time to look after you!
If you wish to have our weekly blogs emailed to you click the follow button on the blog page. Peaceful wishes to you. Namaste Debs.