One Love

I am on the plane, one hour from landing and strangely enough that deep sense of okness has not left my body. It feels normal to be here on this plane, to be heading “home” after 18 months, nothing out of the ordinary here. But I don’t have an ordinary anymore, I don’t have a “norm” so each day, each moment is new and interesting and exciting.  Moving around, changing locations, meeting new people, saying goodbye – they are all my norm. When you shift your paradigm of comparison, with it you move your perspective and along follows the feeling states. It has not lost the shine, it has not got dull and boring (even packing my pack for the 100^th time), I am used to it but it is certainly not yawn worthy or average or ho hum. How lucky am I? Incredibly blessed and I am feeling a whole lotta gratitude as I look out the window and see the vast great land I call home. I have the Peter Allen song in my head right now, “I still call Australia home”. 

In about 2 hours I will get to hug my sister and meet my nephew for the first time – now that thought pulls at my heart strings I must say. A new little person came into our world in my absence and I get to see him, cuddle him, smell him and touch his tiny little hands and feet (as opposed to skype) I am sure the poor kid will get a shock when he hears my voice for real v’s out of the little square black box (Bec’s iPhone).  I remember leaving in January last year and thinking that when I got home that there could just be a new little person, it filled me with sadness and nerves and fear at the time, but today, I feel nothing but excitement and joy. 

I wrote the other day about the big questions in life, about pondering why are we here and who are we? When you have some time to navel gaze it is inevitable that you ask yourself these things. (Maybe you don’t, but I have spent a good few hours on the subject) I have had the fortunate opportunity to figure out what is in my heart and follow it, to have dreams and to do them, to listen to my little voices of reason (aka fear) in my head and tell them to bugger off I am going to do it anyway. In that process, in being able to embrace life, I have been able to do and see some amazing things along they way and to meet some incredible people. But back to my pondering or navel gazing or what ever you want to call it. 

The big questions, or rather the big answers are just that, they are big, but then they are also small. They are complicated but yet oh so simple.  We are all connected and we are all love. We are all God or Atman or Bliss or Purusha or Prakrita or Shiva or Shakta. We are all Buddha nature, we are all light and we are all love. We are one. We are love. Whatever you chose to call it, at our core we are all of those things, they are inherent in us. We don’t need to go find it or build it up or develop it. We don’t need to learn it or practice it or even study for years to find it. It is there, all the time, we just need to see it. Uncover it, realise it, allow it to be. We just need to get ourselves out of the way. I like how the Tibetans describe it, we are like a glass window simply covered in dirt, we simply need to remove the dirt to reveal the clear clarity of the glass underneath. Simple.  Or another great saying I heard the other day

 “ You don’t need to see it to believe it, believe it and you will see it.”

The light resides within

So folks, day 1 or day 21, thanks for hanging out and joining me. I made it, I posted daily, I can’t say I loved it every day, but I did it anyway. I will keep blogging as I love it, but maybe a wee break while I hang out with Coops and my family. I have the next 2 months in Aus before heading back to India for the fun to continue!  If you want, you can check out www.freedom-retreats.com to see what I will be up to.

A quickie

I thought might miss today's post, I have been caught up in the world of distractions - last minute shopping, lunch with the girls, massages, you know important things one must do in Bali....oh, and all on a few hours sleep after partaking in the Bali night light, yep, we made it out in Kuta....very strange yet appropriate way to end 3 weeks of yoga. Sound strange? Well as Mark, Jen and I carved up on the dance floor of a Sky Garden (a Kuta club) surrounded by, well, kids, we could've been their parents technically, we could night grins from our faces. We were having fun. And that is what yoga is about - living this life as best you can, with balance and love, and also a bit fun. 8 hours, and I will be in Sydney....will let you know how that goes :)

Truly being in the flow....

Our last day of Yoga Coach training and it is always sad to say good bye – but somehow I am not filled with sadness but more with a feeling of warm fuzziness in my heart. All of these amazing people I know I will connect with in some way in the future, they are an integral part of my trip and as I shared with them today, they have helped keep me grounded about coming home. If you had asked me 2 months ago about how I was feeling about returning to Australia, I was filled with excitement, nerves, joy, fear – the full range of emotions would arise at the thought of touching down on Australian soil. But now I feel a feeling that is becoming to be a feature more and more in my life – a deep sense of okness. Not perhaps a fancy way of describing it, and I can’t find the right words to do it justice, but it is a feeling that begins deep inside my belly and is one of warmth and of comfort, of safety and security, it is a feeling that tells me everything is happening just as it should.  

I know when I lose the feeling as I come up into my head, my mind is filled with thoughts and fears and my body begins to hold the tension.....it plays it out many forms and can manifest as feelings of nausea, tension in my hips  or over excitement which sees me indulging in distractions. I am in a different place, one of comfort and ease, one where I am and still excited about coming home but I am not in a place of overwhelm but rather one that deep feeling of okness. It feels amazing and so special and I owe it partly to the beautiful people I have shared the past 3 weeks with. Keeping grounded, noticing as things arise but coming back to flow quicker and quicker  - truly magical to see how we can and do transform. So sticking with my intention of embracing everything that is presented to me, I am noticing more and more how quickly I am coming back to flow, and it feels amazing. It has taken me 18  months, but finally I feel I am getting it.

Like the Lotus

The last evening of our Yoga Coach training and it feels kinda strange that it is all coming to a close. As people start to connect into their lives outside of our YC bubble, you can feel the wind down effect of a 3 week intensive program such as this. We are all full, but yet we are all energised and inspired by the process that we have been through. It is amazing to see the transformations in people, how we have all expanded and grown in various ways. We have laughed and we have cried, we have seen parts of ourselves that we perhaps did not know existed and we are all leaving with enormous smiles and warmth in our hearts. Hearing about people's dreams never fails to inspire me - to share in the cultivation of tiny seeds of ideas and to watch them develop and grow and even come into bloom just like the lotus is incredible. I feel lucky to be able to share that with so many wonderful people, that I can honestly say, are truly going to change people lives.

We have all seen and heard our inner critics, faced our fears on a daily basis and come full circle to inspiration and gratitude - in awe of the opportunities that lay ahead. It is wonderful to sit up and say "anything is possible" and know what it feels like to believe that in every cell of your body. This past 3 weeks has been about so many things, about each of us individually on our own little path, about us connecting with each other and the beauty that forms in relationships that did not exist 21 days earlier, about learning and growing together and ultimately, about us realising our potential so we can help others to do the same. I am feeling incredible gratitude to the 9 women and 2 blokes that I have had the pleasure of sharing the YC journey with here - each and everyone one of them has given me something that I have taken into the tapestry of my heart.

I could not have picked a more perfect way to spend my last 21 days on this part of my adventure, it has been like coming home of sorts, of coming back to what I know, of coming back to my body, of coming back to my mind and of coming back to me. So thank you to all of my new YC sangha and to Mark who as always has been incredible, I still have to pinch myself to believe I am this lucky to have such an amazing teacher.  So only a 1/2 day tomorrow before a final day in Bali, and the next adventure begins :)

The beauty of Bhakti with Edo and Jo

An evening with the beautiful sounds of Edo and Jo, followed by an early morning meditation and chanting on the beach, lazy breakfast and morning off....I am floating. I have to admit the first time I experienced kirtan music (chanting typically in sanskrit) I was just a little weirded out. It as not my thing to close your eyes and sing foreign words whilst swaying to the sound of a drum and harmonium. But wind the clock forward, I am up there, singing my little heart out, without a care in the world what anyone else thinks as I drift away whilst the melodies of the ancient chants wash over me. I can feel the vibrations throughout my body and for the first time my heart truly swells and I feel connected to the music, to the people around me and to myself - in this moment I can understand the beauty of chanting and bhakti yoga (yoga of devotion).

Music can often invoke feelings of joy, feelings of sorrow and sadness,  and for me it is often connected to moments in time the recreate memories. I even have a sound track from my travels that is a collection of songs that have had specific meaning at certain times throughout the year. Whether it be a song that is playing in the background of a time that is memorable, a song that has created a memory (think "Love Generation" by Bob Sinclair from iPods and Apple Pies) or perhaps it is tunes that have been stuck in my head for no apparent reason but are permanent fixtures for the duration of an event (Vipassana I had the entire Akon album in my mind - not exactly what you would expect but it reminded my of Mcleod)

I can live without a tv, but I am not sure I could live without my iPod - my music has been with me through countless hours on the bus, at lonely airports, of times when I needed a pick me up and times when I feel the song has been written about me (funny how that happens). I love sound and I love music from all genres - I even have been listening to traditional Tibetan nomadic music lately. It reminds me of people special to me.  My sound track for this year takes me instantly to the Himalaya's where I danced to Bob Sinclair, to the hotel room in Kathmandu where Coby Grant kept me company, "Skinny Love" by Bon Iver and I am reminded  of a late night phone call from a friend, Akon and I am dancing with my friends in Mcleod, Adele and I am sitting watching a volcano in Guatemala, "Sometimes" by James and I am again trekking in the mountains, "Om mani padme hum" and I am awaiting the arrival of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Bodhgaya....the list grows and is a beautiful way to keep the memories alive. And now I have another one to add to the list, "Om Shanti" by Edo and Jo.  Check out the film clip that was actually shot on Mark's training last year.

Making dreams come true

I have been a big fan over the last 18 months of dreaming – of pondering life and what I want it to look like, of taking the reins and steering the ship rather than coasting along on the coat tails of expectations and other people’s beliefs. I have spent time figuring out what is really important to me and what is it that I have been put on this planet to do. What do I want to spend my days doing and how can I shape and carve my specific insights and ideas into my reality. It has been an interesting process as I get in touch with a creative side I have boxed and shelved for more than 20 years and allowing myself to fully explore, anything IS possible. Questions like “what would I do if money was no object?” have been helpful drivers along the way to keep me focused on the bigger picture and practicing what I preach – do what you love so you can love what you do.

I found myself in a career in HR, perhaps not through default, but through a passion to help people grow. I honestly get a kick out of seeing people discover their talents but more importantly to follow them. To delve deep inside and find that spark, that little flame that ignites when they discover their passion – as when you do what you love, you are automatically good at. In fact you excel. In my corporate career in HR (primarily learning and development) it was no surprise that when we moved the focus from measuring performance to measuring potential, we saw incredible results. People were channelling their energy into roles and projects that they enjoyed, rather than fighting a losing battle like a square peg in a round hole in roles that they could do but really had no interest in. Or worse still, were doing what they thought they “should” do as it was a good CV filler. Disaster. For both individuals and the organisation – you end up with a bunch of people going about their day through obligation rather than real desire.  A simple switch in roles to where their strengths lay, and surprise surprise, performance soon followed suite. It is not rocket science really, if you like what you do, chances are you will do it better.

I still have the passion to see people grow, I want people to be their best and to realise their own potential. As Mark puts it, everyone has a set of unique gifts and talents, we just need to recoginse them. That is what inspires me, what drives and what I get really excited about. I am working towards doing that, being that and can’t wait to share some of it with you.  Interestingly when you are so clear, when you are focused on your goal with so much determination and that deep sense of knowing that you could not be doing anything else, then things flow. They happen. Already things are starting to flow for me, opportunities to share my knowledge are slowly creeping in and it gives me faith and belief that my dreams are starting to come true.

Words of a wise Tibetan

My mind is getting full and I am starting to find I am drifting slowly day by day  to Australia. I am mapping out the meals I want to eat, the things I want to do, the people I want to see – how that will flow, the conversations, the catching up. It is endless. I find it hard to comprehend really. It is funny how we do that though, project ourselves to the future and if you are like me, begin to imagine how it will feel to be in a place, what it will be like to see people, what are all the things that can happen.  I guess it is like scenario planning, imagining all of the possible outcomes and having a strategy or an approach for each one.  Although I don’t quite go to that extreme, I am not scenario planning my home coming, but I am starting to picture what it will feel like to see my sister at Sydney airport. 

I am trying valiantly to stay here and in the moment as from previous experience I am acutely aware that future or past are not really useful places to hang out. Occasionally to reflect on something you have learned then the past can be helpful or if you are specifically planning around future then taking a trip a few years ahead and visualising what it is you want is incredibly powerful. But on a whole, the best ways to spend your precious moments of time are here and now. So I am trying but as each day passes it is becoming increasingly more and more difficult to contain. But practice makes perfect so I will continue.  I have had some tendencies to spend a lot of my time in the past, going over things, analysing them and critiquing what I could have done differently, better, said or not said etc etc. I reflect a lot, I journal out my days, I spend time going over things so I can see how things did or did not go wrong and then often spend a great deal of time cutting myself up over it. Not a very productive use of time, nor healthy.

When I was in Mcleod,  I was having a disagreement with a Tibetan friend when we decided to drop the subject  as clearly we were not getting anywhere that he said “no problems, past is past”.  I think I smiled, shrugged and thought ok, but walked off stewing over the issue for the next hour.  I went to approach the subject with him, he smiled in return and said simply “past is past, it is forgotten” that I realised he honestly meant it. He had forgotten what was a pretty heavy conversation. Maybe he did not forget, but he was able to put it down and move on. He was amused that I had carried it around for more than an hour brewing – clearly his use of the hour was more productive than mine.

I am drawing on the inspiration of my Tibetan friends this week as I am always learning from them with their simple and uncomplicated way of seeing life.  The acceptance for how things are, even in changing situations, the ability to embrace each and every moment as it is. Not jumping ahead to tomorrow, next week, next month or next year, nor wallowing in the history of our lives. It is here and now the magic happens, so that is my focus for today.

The big questions

I have set myself the task this week of making the most of the sangha – and limiting my time on my computer, once I get online, it is like a time vortex transports me to another world and before I know it 2 hours have gone, and we are due back in class, or the evening has passed. So this week, no more than one hour a day (internet connection dependant).  I am still committed to blogging daily as I am really enjoying the process and the outlet that writing provides me, but forgive me in advance if the posts are a bit shorter, or not as exciting as I aim to punch them out a bit more efficiently.  So limited skype (I am a sucker for a quick chat to friends online around the globe) and prioritising my google searches and email responses. Sounds simple, bet let’s see how that pans out shall we.

So the clock is ticking, and I am already 10 minutes in....wow, this is what happens. But I am a stickler for the rules so will make it work. Today we started on the mind. The fun and games part of training as we are using our minds to try and understand the contents of it. Sounds confusing? It is. It is sometimes beyond the mind. And it feels oh so complicated but in fact it is the simplicity that makes it sweet. We are not our thoughts, we are not our habit patterns, we are not our emotions.  But get this, we think we are. We identify with these things and think it is who we are. It is what makes our day seem bright and shiny or shitty and crap, it is our attachment to our ideas that we get so caught up in that makes our own life so dull and boring or complicated and dramatic. It is all really only our perception of the truth, our distorted minds create the story that plays out. 

So that is the simplicity. But in that, we have a wonderful thing called avidya – ignorance of our essential nature – and we grip and grasp on for dear life with the hold of avidya. Avidya is what holds us by the throat, preventing us from realising our potential as we hang onto the belief that “I” am all of the things that “I” am not. I am not an angry person, but I have anger sometimes, I am not good person, but I can do good things sometimes, I am not sad, I simply have a feeling at the moment that plays out as sadness....can you start to see the pattern that is emerging? Starting to disentangle yourself from the habitual thinking patterns is an interesting but challenging experience.  But the more I work with it, the more I can see the truth behind it all – sadness comes and goes, anger is never a permanent 100% of the time fixture – these things are all impermanent. If they were me, they would never leave, I would be trapped in the sadness cycle for eternity, but I am not (thank God) so how can they BE me. 

In one sense it is empowering and I feel excited when I am reminded I am not all of these things, but then it raises a more important question, if I am not all of these things, then what, or who am I? I told you this was fun......but for now, as the clock is ticking I and want to get this posted, I am going to leave you with that thought :) (And I will post later in the week about what I have learned about what is left after you take away all of the things you are not)

Sangha

Nothing is possible in this life without good company.Without the support of friends and family, life is pretty lonely and also not really much fun. I have said time and time again that my trip has only confirmed what I guess I already knew - that people are what make a place truly special, that is it connection that supports you through the tough times and is there to celebrate in the good. It is something that is taught in yoga and even the Buddha himself said surround yourself with good people. So it is not really a new theory, but perhaps one of the oldest around, sangha is vital to our very existence.

My first yoga teacher training I undertook (with Body Mind Life in Sydney) I was blessed to meet 15 amazing girls. Women who have become an incredibly important part of my life - so much so that I have even spent time with 5 of them throughout my travels this past year. When we are together as a group, we all leave smiling from the inside out. It is truly special and in some way remarkable that you can put 15 girls together and find that we all get along really, really, well. We also see ourselves as lucky as it is not always the case when you get groups together, there will be people you resonate with and people you don't. It is life, it is how it works. People just operate on different frequencies - a great story to tell yourself when the pushy little girl jumps the queue at the ATM or a fellow traveller spends hours boasting over their clubbing experience in Goa - we are just resonating on very different levels is all.

I have to say, coming away this time, I was mindful that in a group of 12 there would be people I would potentially click with and others I may not. It is how things work and I could not imagine for one minute that I would ever have a group like my first teacher trainee companions, we had been told it really was quite rare.  But I feel very lucky that I have in fact struck it twice with a group of girls, that ease of company, the connection with the sangha, that our group here has got that same vibe going on. All of us different yet all of us the same, all with hopes and dreams and fears. After a glorious weekend away, filled with laughs and good times, some pretty good food and some amazing snorkelling, it does feel like a group of hand picked people you would chose to spend your time with. Not a group that really did not know each other only 2 weeks ago. It is special to see a group come together, form, make connections, and to share.

Mark is an important part of my Sangha

I am always grateful for the wonderful people that continue to come into my life (and of course the ones that stick around for awhile). Even right up to the last moments of this trip, I am blessed by amazing sangha - community. And now it is only 8 sleeps til I am home and I can connect with my sangha back home, my family, my dear friends in the north and south....there really are no words for that :) :) :) :)

PS I have not forgotten my group who I did Level 2 with (also with Mark)  2 years ago, we also had a great community going on, but we seemed to have spread out a little more. But still, an incredible bunch of people and we had 2 gorgeous men on that group so hence I am not using the comparison as the vibe is always different with boys around ;)  And I can't wait to see my fellow YC buddies soon!

Yogi's go wild....

A weekend off, and a road trip....a well deserved break after a week of delving deep inside our core, of stretching our bodies but more importantly our minds and learning the difference between kyphosis and lordosis. We expand into the body, the energetic system and next week we tackle the mind. Fun and games. But riveting, interesting, mind blowing and so inspiring, and you are at times are left wondering why everyone simply doesn't go out and get themselves a Yoga Coach. I mean seriously, who doesn't want a healthy body, a high energy system and a clear and focused mind!

You have probably gathered that Mark's style of teaching does not lean towards divide and concur, he is not about building people up to break them down and his definitely on the side of balance and integration of useful practices. So in our down time, what do yogi's get up to?? As I chatted to my Mum last week on skype, she really could not believe I was eating chocolate mousse, as she put it "but you are on a yoga retreat!" It is not a retreat in the strict sense, but she was right in one way. Chocolate mousse and yoga? Hardly sounds like 2 words you would find in the same sentence (and it is not the healthy dairy free version but rather the full cream, hit of chocolate, deliciously creamy one that is to die for!)

But in our yogi world, we are about balance, about letting go and letting in and taking what we need to nourish us. We do it consciously rather than at random, we go over the inner dialogue and decide what is useful and not so useful - sometimes that is saying no to dessert, and sometimes it is saying yes.  So tonight, as we watched the sunset at our weekend getaway resort, sipping cocktails and enjoying the evening of amazing company, we laughed and decided that today's blog would be entitled "yogis go wild" (It was a group decision) and here is the photographic evidence to prove it :) Enjoy as we certainly did.

 

Meeting Mark

Often when you hear about people meeting teachers, they describe the experience as one of life changing proportions. Light shoots down from above, everything moves in slow mode...perhaps the student is reduced to tears for no apparent reason other than being in the presence of this special person, or they are filled with a deep sense of knowing of having met this person before. I can't say I had the same experience when I first met Mark Breadner, in fact it was almost the complete opposite. I was petrified. The man to put it bluntly scared the shit out of me. I will never forget the day though, it is etched in my mind as most moments that turn out to be life changing are, but at the time, you think they are ordinary moments, you are completely unaware of what is about to unfold. You are oblivious to the sheer magnitude of a seemingly simple interaction between two people. And to be honest, the interaction was nothing really to write home about.

I first met Mark on my Yoga Teacher Training Level 1 -Mark was part of the teaching team and he arrived for the welcome dinner in his beanie, his unshaven face and his fake eye. I have to say I was perhaps more intimidated that impressed. He carried himself in a slightly aloof way, what I thought to be an air of arrogance and distance that I found to be almost scarey. I found my stomach turning in knots, and his sheer presence made me nervous - was it the fake eye ? Perhaps the beanie and unshaven look? Or was it the energy of his presence that unnerved me? I could not figure it out. But I knew he was making me feel incredibly uncomfortable and he had not even opened his mouth. How was I going to learn from this guy? I was used to the learning environment at IKEA where we hugged each other hello for crying out loud, this guy looked like if I hugged him he would punch me.

Day 1 of my teacher training and as soon as Mark opened his mouth and started talking about yoga - the meaning and essence of the ancient science (not the sticking-your-leg-behind-your-head parts) I was transfixed. I hung off every word, this guy clearly knew his stuff. He still scared the shit out of me, but I figured that his information was pretty amazing, I would deal with it. It was only later in the first week of training with Mark, that I recalled a familiarity in the feelings that arose whenever I was around him - the churning in the stomach, the wanting to only say smart things, the not wanting to look him in the eye (and not because he was missing one) - I have had those feelings before. Each and every time, it is when I am about to learn something about myself, when I am around someone who "see's" me - not my shiny business card I present out to the world, but me, the inside of me. His vision went right to my very core. No wonder I felt a little edgy, with this guy, I could not hide a thing.

I then began to see behind the beanie and the rough beard, the eye you get used to after awhile and to get to know the person.  Over the course of my first training with Mark, I got to see a surfer guy from Cronulla who had his fair share of ups and downs in life, who showed up (most of the time) and faced his stuff, and took it into relationship with us. He cared for us his students and took interest in our learning, and deep down he really is a big teddy bear who loves cuddles and lets us nap in class. As a teacher, he keeps you in your experience while gently and carefully getting you to expand and grow. The transformation of people in his trainings is evidence of the ability of Mark as a coach, a teacher, a mentor and most importantly as a friend.

Wind the clock forward 3 years and I am still hanging off every word he says. Mark is able to present yoga in a simple and uncomplicated way that allows you to live it from the inside out, and it has nothing to do with a yoga mat. He still sees me for who I am, and I have to admit there are times when I still feel that sensation of nerves arise in body and the temptation to run and hide - but I sit with it, and allow the experience to simply unfold as I trust that Mark only has my interests at heart and whatever is going on, even with those feelings of vulnerability or fear, they are simply, as Mark so aptly put its it, that transformation and change are just around the corner. So how can you run from that. Pretty amazing really.

The Power of Now (in Savasana)

Again I sit here not really sure about what I will write. But I know if I persist just a little the words will come. They begin to dance across the page as my fingers tap away at the keyboard, forming sentences, telling stories that I am not really sure where they will go. It is being open to the moment I guess, and embracing what ever comes to mind. Dealing with it as it arises, in this very minute rather than a carefully laid out plan. It is my tendency to plan, to map out in my mind how things will look, what I want to say, do, write, be. I spend a lot of time in my head seeing it all. It can be incredibly empowering process as I often can visualise a scenario or event, something that I want to bring into my life, and more often than not it can and does happen. Pretty cool stuff really (see Careful What you Wish For) but it can also be tiresome.

The past few days I have been consumed by my creative mind in overdrive about the future, the possibilities, the potential. It is exciting and invigorating, and for once I don't feel wrapped up in the stories of "I can't because of a,b,c" or my other favourite "It won't possibly work because x,y,z". It is a pleasant change I must say, but man it is tiring. I find it hard to come out of, so meditations have been highjacked by business plans or marketing strategies and asana practice by target markets and workshop ideas - even in a massage last night my mind insisted on working like a little mouse on the wheel.....going, and going and going.

It wasn't until savasana (final resting pose) this morning in a beautiful class from Anna (all of our classes are beautiful as we each take it in turn of teaching) that I finally found some reprieve. My body sunk into the bliss of rest, the deep sense of release and letting go that my mind decided to follow suit. It too took a breather and had a mini break. It didn't get dusty and dull, it didn't get side tracked and excited, it just sat with my breath in the beauty of that deep rest. Bliss. I know it may be different in meditation tomorrow, it may not. I know I can't attach to the feeling of rest I had in those gracious 5 minutes, but I can at least take some peace away from the practice and enjoy the pleasure of deep relaxation.

As I get closer to home, I am trying my hardest to stay in the beautiful Yoga Coach bubble, to stay with the moments here and not get caught in the excitement of it all. With the excitement is still elements of fear and nerves, what will I talk about with friends back home, how have I changed, how have they changed, what will people think of me etc etc etc. I plan to stay in Australia for a couple of months but will I be back in India when I plan to be, will that happen, will I change my mind, and the big one, how will I feel being back in Australia?!? I don't know, and all of these are projections onto the future are not particularly useful. So staying here and now, soaking up the bubble and the amazing group we have is about where I am at.  And creative business mind, you can pipe down til next week, I don't need to have a 5 year plan today.