A rainbow heart valentine - given out by Nadine at our workshop
On this day of over-hyped super-commercial celebration of romantic love, I’m taking a short break from my current series of posts. Because I need it – I’ve been struggling a little with pulling it all together. And because it’s good to reflect on how far I’ve come since that time in my life, not to mention how far I’ve come in recent years. It’s a lot of work, a great deal of healing but it’s not more than anyone else has to do for themselves.
I honour every person out there in the world coming to terms with their wild and wacky monkey mind, the mind that wounds our Selves as well as others. The mind that makes us believe we are not enough, we are not okay and we are not who or what we should be. I also honour those that haven’t had that battle yet because at some point in our lives, it seems to me that we all come face to face with our inner demons.
It’s hard work facing up to ourselves, being honest about where we’re at and finding the courage to implement changes that release us from negative self-patterns.
So, I honour everyone who lives and breathes and I sincerely hope that one day we all find for ourselves what my guru calls “Vajra” pride or the “essential dignity of being alive”.
Recently Brooks wrote a post about the ways that blogging has enhanced her life and I completely agree with her sentiment!
Case in point: I’ve spent the last two days in the company of some truly fantastic people at a workshop led by the marvellous Mark Whitwell.
This came about because I created this blog and as a result, I’ve made connections with other bloggers. Both Linda and Anthroyogini have mentioned Mark’s book and teachings, as well as Nadine’s blog. This caused me to add Nadine to my RSS, and I’ve been enjoying her posts very much. Of course, she then wrote about her plans to bring Mark to Melbourne for a weekend workshop!
With everything I’d heard from Linda, Anthroyogini and Nadine, my curiosity was peaked. And call it synchronicity, grace or a happy accident but I found myself signing up.
And all I can say is thank god (or whatever force of the universe you can relate to). Mark’s teachings are full of LOVE in a very powerful way. I promise I’ll write more about my experience in a separate post but for now I’d like to share the following with you:
Yoga = (intimacy & interconnectedness of breath + body + mind) = Love
That’s a very neat summary of my realisations for the weekend, and there were LOTS!
In many ways, doing yoga all weekend was the perfect activity for our so-called day of celebration of love. Except it wasn’t commercial, objectified or specifically aimed at one person. It didn’t exclude those who are single (like me), meaning the absence of love and affection – quite the opposite in fact. And we all received a Valentine (see photos), courtesy of Nadine’s inspiration (thank you!).
At the conclusion of 2x six hour days of yoga I feel my heart has cracked wide open (love that feeling), brimming over with love for ALL beings. I also feel much gratitude for Nadine in organising for Mark to be here, and for Mark in sharing his humble, wise and compassionate teachings.
Also, I now feel like I finally know how I’m going to begin to teach yoga – because up until now, I was really feeling a little lost there…
On the reverse of our Rainbow Hearts
Om Shanti, beloved beings!
And happy Valentine’s Day.
~Svasti xoxo
Svasti: A Journey From Assault To Wholeness 