Hi lovely souls, I wanted to write this blog about Self Reflection and Growth. Each one of us have and still are going through major adjustments this year, which have been out of necessity and not of our choosing.

We are well into our second week of our second lockdown, I wonder if you have taken the time to reflect on how are you feeling? Are you finding this lockdown easier or more difficult to manage? and on reflection, can you spot the moments, where you have identified qualities about yourself that you hadn’t really paid attention to before.

Throughout this roller coaster ride we have had to do some deep inner work that we might usually push to one side to deal with another day!

Did you discover something new about yourself? Maybe you found a new an enjoyable pastime! If so this is an opportunity for spiritual growth, a chance to mindfully accept our emotions exactly where they are, not judging or comparing ourselves, although this can be is tricky if we are looking at our social media feeds on a regular basis!

I personally witnessed mixed emotions throughout the first lockdown, at first I enjoyed not having a routine to begin with, but then after a while I created a routine, because I could feel lethargy creeping in.

On one hand I felt swept up in the panic to put my yoga and pilates classes online, plus set up a booking system and other admin, which in its self was a huge learning curve for me and I’ll be the first person to admit I’m not very digitally minded, so this was quite a stressful time. On the flip side of this I really enjoyed the slower pace and the quieter roads and having my daughter home before she went to University.

I kept myself busy and Rosie and I put together our online offerings, which are always a magical evening. I also trained in Yin Yoga and gained my certification.

The point of me telling you all this is, that I learnt a few things about myself during the first lockdown and now we have gone in to a second lockdown we might witness something else about ourselves, perhaps a different wave of emotions or you might discover a new hobby or passion…

I noticed that last time I tried to fit too many things into my day! which sometimes left me exhausted with little time for self care! yes I know, Yoga teachers preach about selfcare, but we can sometimes be good at giving and not always so good at recieving!

I also became aware that my mind craves knowledge and new experiences and that after my big digital learning curve I have gained more confidence and knowledge in dealing with technical issues than I had prior to lockdown. although I still have a long way to go!

I have even greater appreciation for all the things in my life however small or simple that might be, especially being outside in nature. Generally I prefer to travel outside of the UK but with travel restrictions in place I have come to appreciate my local area. One instance that highlighted how fortunate I was to live in this area was when I met some people by the river at Cookham, who had driven in from London to spend the day because they had no access to the parks and green spaces there to take their children too at that time. .

Once the second lockdown was announced I decided to approach this one differently and see it as an opportunity to not to overload my day, making more time for selfcare, whether that be spending time in nature, taking other instructors zoom classes, for my own practice and for inspiration, as we can learn so much from each other or just having a relaxing bath or listening to a podcast or audio book.

I have accepted that I like to challenge myself, I started a marketing course in September, that I knew would be a huge challenge for me as its not a natural strength, but I knew it was important for me to obtain some of these skills. It has been very overwhelming and time consuming and on occasion I’ve thought “why have I done this” as I was struggling to fit it into my normal working schedule

With this second lockdown I have taken a step back and decided the best way to cope with the course was to take it in small manageable chunks and gradually progress as I’ve realised it is not a race.

I was looking through some photos and came upon the one I have put as the blog picture, which was from my trip to Guatemala back in January, I can’t believe that we did that this year! it seems an age ago now. I reflected on how fortunate I was that Rosie spotted it and I’m so grateful that she did. We both decided to take the leap and book it short notice with only a month before the course started. It was one of those moments where the Universe aligns and you just trust in the process.

The day before we realised we had forgotten to fill in the ESTA form that we needed to land in Atanta en route, so there was a stressful few hours sorting that out!

It was worth the panic as when we finally arrived in Guatemala our adventures began. The venue was based at the permaculture forest home of Coby and Ananda the facilitators who just welcome you with open arms and you felt as if you had come to your spiritual home. The whole experience from sleeping in a tent under the stars, seeing the sunrise over Lake Atitlan, practising yoga looking out at the volcano and interacting with the other beautiful souls on the course, whilst learning the different ceremonies and trying different plant medicines, it was unlike any other training I had ever undertaken before and I feel so thankful to the facilitators at Kula Collective, for the transformational journey, the training helped me trust in myself, see things differently and be open to new opportunities and experiences. I am hopeful that one day I will be back to learn with them, when travel becomes easier again.

To summarise, our lives are a journey of learning and growth, there are times when its smooth and times when the journey is bumpy. Reflecting on how far you’ve come, what you have achieved and learning to accept when things are out of our control, helps us cope and manage our stress levels when the road is less smooth. This is growth!

if you can appreciate what you have in your life, your home, loved ones, green spaces, maybe an amazing yoga and meditation practice and seeing the beauty in simple things. Your mindset and outlook will become more positive, life seems less of a struggle and you find more happiness internally. One thing that this year might have taught us is that we can manage with less external stimulation and we are able create new patterns for ourselves.

Take good care to nourish your mind body and soul, trusting in yourself and trusting in the bigger forces at play, helps you live life with more ease, (sukha) grace, peace, flow and harmony, I look forward to seeing you all on the other side.

Reflecting back to January 2020

Yours in WELLNESS x