If there is one thing we can learn from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is to try and not get attached to an outcome. We now live in a world where we can’t make plans. We can’t even plan what we’re doing this month, next month, or for the rest of this year. What we can do though is relax and trust life. This is the ancient Buddhist teaching of non-attachment.
It felt like 2021 started well for Restful Yoga retreats with Summer Magic lifting spirits in January after a tough 2020. Then Autumn Stillness in March offered a chance to release the old and feel the stillness of mind and body. Winter Nurture in July was a new retreat, a time to go deeper and truly nourish the soul. It was a beautiful experience to see so many people peel off the stress and becoming more aware of what they needed in their life, experiencing real transformation after the weekend.
I love sharing all of these retreats with beautiful people who are supported by the Restful Yoga Team.
Then came the ‘Delta strain’, throwing Australia into a frenzy. If a state locks down, all states are affected, and we’re all quickly reminded that nothing is permanent. We must live each moment fully.
I feel blessed to have reached people with the first three retreats and look forward to easier times for everyone in 2022.
We will begin the 2022 New Year with another Summer Magic Retreat to find our true connection to joy. This retreat is vibrant, colourful, and yet restorative. We still have a few spaces available.
I have also just introduced a specialty three-day retreat for March 2022 called Autumn Release.
Autumn Release Retreat
I often have guests asking me for a longer retreat so here it is. I am working with an amazing facilitator Sandra Tenge. Sandra has a medical background as a naturopath and dietician. She specializes in gut health, releasing excess body fat and toxins from the body.
We will be working together on this retreat with a strong educational component combined with walks in nature, specialized exercise for emotional and physical release, and gentle qi gong and restorative yoga. Again, this is a boutique-style retreat for 8 people, allowing for more time and attention for individual needs.
I feel with a greater awareness of COVID we will be in a different place in 2022.
Rest Your Spirit
In the meantime, make the lockdowns work for you with less stimulation and more time to rest the spirit. Put your legs up the wall every day for 5 minutes, this is one of the most powerful exercises you can do to replenish the body and to unwind the nervous system.
If you work from home stand up every hour and stretch, do a few deep breaths in through the nose and exhale strongly through the mouth. This helps blood flow to the brain and to the ground and release tension in your energy. Move your body daily, preferably with a friend so you can walk and talk and enjoy the social time. It is great for our mental health.
Take on some new more meditative practices like colouring in, jigsaws, journaling, painting, listening to kirtan, guided meditations, or yoga nidra, abhyanga (ayurvedic self-massage which is very soothing for the nervous system). Practice mindfulness of this moment here and now and inhibit the desire to dwell on what has passed or project into what may happen. No one knows, so be present with what is right now and what is working. Be grateful for your health, your home, your family everything that matters to you. Be grateful for your morning tea, the way the sun rises, and the sound of rain. Gratitude is our greatest healer. Practice is what makes it easier.
If you practice a negative way of thinking and being you will experience a negative first law of the universe – ‘the energy you work with is the energy you receive’.
Practice nourishing the brain and body with simple grateful thoughts, moments of stillness, and enjoy how the synapses (neural pathways) transform in your brain. This is not Woo Woo it is simple science and leads to more peace within.
We are all in this together. Feel the support of every human and creature on the planet.
Love & Blessings, Linda