Hello. It’s me .. and I wonder if, like me, you wonder where January has gone?
Where did the first month of this bright new year go?
I took a lovely graceful transition into the New Year with a retreat in our beautiful and spiritual Byron Bay .. amongst the palm trees, hot winds and crashing oceans. And I was hopeful, even convinced, that when I journeyed back to ‘home life’ the path would be a slow and steady one. (You can read and see more about the retreat here)
Didn’t happen quite as I expected.
There was a palpable energy swirling around in January .. did you feel it? On a global basis there has been a gathering of energy, protests and worry, a sense of urgency and refocus; and personally, once I got home, there has been an ever quickening of pace .. social events, family events, bright new ideas to roll around, opportunities unexpected, requests that needed attention.
So I have been feeling a little s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d
You?
At our recent Bliss Bomb Retreat (Summer) as we looked around the room, there was a sense of tiredness and low energy. In the philosophy of seasonal living, Summer is joyful, entertaining and creative, and traditionally represented by FIRE .. the glowing energy of regeneration and purification. In Chinese medicine, fire and sun manifest as the heart – the seat of our divine consciousness, and that which sustains our wellbeing.
Summer is the most YANG of seasons, and an inward expression of the energy we see in the world around us
But all of our Summer activities, the long days awake and the flitting around to social events, the chatter and being constantly ‘on’ and ‘doing’ .. can lead to an depletion of our inner battery. To balance our fire, our enthusiasm for life, we should also include some quieter, reflective activities .. time in the garden with your hands in the earth, swinging in a hammock under a trees, floating on the ocean ..
Cooling the fire, so we can restore and begin again.
And so at our retreat we shifted gear a little, and included more restorative and reflective practices .. including this little gem – Sitali Breath a pranayama (breath mastery) practice from the yoga tradition. I encourage you to give it a go, share it with the kids if you find yourselves stuck in the heat .. this is a wonderful way to cool a hot mind and hot body.
Let us all take a moment to cool our body and mind.
Enjoy!
*If you would like to join us for our Autumn Bliss Bomb Retreat in Prahran (Melbourne) on Sunday 30th April – find out more here (Early Bird Special is currently ON!)