Moving with the times...

or the art of letting go....

you choose...
​

Yoga is not just about postures - there is a whole myriad of philosophy, science and writings behind yoga. It is said Patanjali 'wrote' the yoga sutras more than two thousand years ago. Contained within these threads of wisdom are ways to support life's journey to enlightenment. Aparigraha is the one of these threads - part of a collection of ways of being called the yamas. I like the translation of this as 'awareness of abundance' - I think this fits well with the permaculture principle of fair share - sharing what you have and taking only what you need.

​For me this links closely with minimalism, learning to live lightly on this planet and a focus on abundance rather than on lack and need. I have found over the years that too many physical items leads me to overwhelm; too many choices leads me to decision fatigue and my habit of stuffing as many activities into a day as possible leads me to burn out. Letting go of things, activities and choices create the space to really see myself and the world from a place of calm.

I really do think that the more we gather material possessions, the more we weigh ourselves down with physical and energetic baggage. It all becomes stuff to attach feelings to and to worry about. Believing that a new purchase will bring me happiness is usually based on a feeling of lack - that sense of ‘I’m not good enough’ or ‘I’m not whole/happy without that new thing’, when really I always was and always will be good enough no matter what.

​Over the years I've been interested in Feng Shui, minimalism, permaculture, growing my own food, yoga and creating sacred space. I've decluttered, practised a one in one out policy for years and really experimented with whether the art of placement can enhance my life. I do find it is a constant circle of new ideas, projects, growth, burn out, recovery and change.

And at this time of year when the sun stands still, this time of winter and the element of earth - it is a fabulous opportunity to take stock on the year just gone. This last year, I've used my knee injury as a gift to stop, pause and reflect - to re-evaluate. I'm at a change in my physical self as I transition from creatrix to wise woman through the menopause. Bill is no longer rushing off to work abroad. Who are we and where are we going?

More than twelve years ago Bill and I moved into our dream home - we spent a lot of time and energy creating the house - Bill especially. Around the house was an expanse of mud and I threw myself wholeheartedly into creating a productive garden based on permaculture principles - forest garden, raised beds, polytunnel, herbs, plants for wildlife, lots of composting and so on.. I've had a lot of fun.

Now, in the process of taking a good look at who we are; we've discovered that we like to be a bit nomadic, we love to travel, to spend time on the sea, on the road, with friends - lots of mini adventures have filled these last 12 years and we realise that the house is a bit big for just the cat when we're not here. We're not interested in filling it with possessions (although we do like to fill the garage with toys). So we're releasing our idea of ourselves and our dream house out to the universe. The house is on the market and we're planning on downsizing - small house, big shed, wider horizons.

Letting go of the house brings up many emotions - relief at not being responsible for my large garden, guilt and grief about leaving all my plants, loss of our comfortable home, loss of our identity that is wrapped up in a house we designed and spent many hours working on together. Shelter and home are directly linked to the root chakra - to not have this is ungrounding and can be very unsettling.

And yet, it is so exciting - another description of aparigrapha is non-attachment and so I'm learning to let go of expectations - the old story of who I thought I was - that I will live in one place forever, that I'm going to grow as much of our own food as possible blah blah. I'm not worried about the future - we are not really making ourselves homeless as we have our boat and van - our mini adventure pods. We have the skills to look after ourselves.

We will regain spaciousness to create more adventures without feeling torn about being away from home and coming back to overgrown vegetable beds.

I've spent this last year downsizing my possessions - looking at what the real essence of the sport or activity brings and questioning whether I really need all the stuff that goes along with it to achieve the essence. The first photo in this blog is of me on the beach practicing yoga - no mat, no lycra, no DVD - just me in my waterproofs, walking boots, in the elements - outside, on the beach, where my soul sings - being what I love.

ps Bill just read this and said
"it's not about the kit you are using - it's about using the kit"......