2015: The Beginning Sets the Tone

Jan 5, 2015 | Being a writer, Health, Yoga practices, Yoga teaching  | 0 comments

egg

Beginnings and Another Birthday

This blog, ‘Yoga with Eve Grzybowski’, has a birthday and it’s New Year’s Eve 2009. That makes her five years old.

I think you’ll agree that the expression ‘time flies’ is a truism. But as a septuagenarian, I have to say time gallops. With age, I feel slower, but the tempo of time beats faster. You’ll see!
One thousand eighty posts into ‘Yoga with Eve Grzybowski’, I can still remember sitting down to write my first one. That old post seems so tentative, almost shy, compared to what I write now. I don’t mean to say I’ve become deep and meaningful, but I don’t now agonise over what to write or how I come across to you.
The idea of writing a blog came from a seed planted by my friend, documentary filmmaker, Lesley Seebold. She was the rocket launcher under my first blog, TheVille. That blog was a toe-in-the-water thing, which documented our several-year experiment in communal living in Tambourine Bay, Sydney. Lesley and Rod, her husband, filmed much of it.

Do You Like the Adventure of Trying Something New?

Have you ever taken up a gauntlet because you thought it was a good idea at the time. Then, as you launch yourself into the challenge, you think, what was I thinking?
As a teacher, I’ve thrown down the gauntlet to others countless times when I’ve said, ‘Gee, you would be a natural for teaching yoga.’ (Julie, if you’re reading this, you’re not the first!)
In fact, this is how I got hooked into being a yoga teacher myself. Just a little word in the ear.
You can plant the seeds and words yourself. I do this seed-planting each year on January 1st. It’s a powerful exercise in dreaming dreams that come true.

Creating the Vision of A Great Year

How do you do it? It’s easy. All it takes is not being attached to the outcome of your vision.
  1. First, visualise your ideal year and write it down in as much detail as you like.
  2. Next, share it with a small group of friends and/or family. In my case I have a special group of committed listeners – The Shedders whose dreams I also listen to on January 1st.
  3. Then, let your vision go. Release it into the Universe (but keep a copy of your vision to look on the next New Year’s Eve).
As an example, here are a few highlights of what might spring up in the Garden of Eve this year.
 
  • 2015 is proving to be such an interesting, adventurous year. It’s kicked off with a week of teaching yoga to a group of people I love. After the course, I expect that each one of the students will go off into the ‘real world’ to inspire and contribute health and good will. It’s so rewarding to have been able to collaborate in the ‘Wake Up in 2015’ course with Michael in our shared vision of having people do regular practice of mindfulness and yoga. 
  • The 8-wk course I’ve taken on to prepare me for Palliative Care volunteering is a revelation, a door opening to serving a special population in a heartfelt way. It hasn’t happened yet but I can see a direction for me to go in palliative care volunteering that includes my skills in yoga teaching and meditation.
  • This year Daniel and I had some beautiful experiences through our involvement with HAI. The February team workshop we participated in gave us more skills and practice in clear communication and creating depth of intimacy. This transfers to many of the local community activities we participate in – including those with the Shedders. 
  • I received a terrific report from my orthopaedic surgeon in my February checkup. Can you believe it’s been five years since the big op?
  • And, my eyes! The veils have been lifted. Cataract surgery has restored my long range vision to what it was – near perfect! Amazing how much more beautiful the world is with clear and colourful vision.
  • Although I had to drop my Wednesday morning yoga class in the shed because of a schedule conflict with the Palliative Care course, I began running themed once-a-month Sunday workshops. For some of these, I collaborated with Michael. Other ones I presented with teachers I mentor. It’s so much fun working with kindred partners.
  • In addition to these new activities, I’ve continued my teaching in Byron Bay in the yoga therapy course – year six. I also returned to the Central Coast where I was a guest teacher in two different studios.  
  • The Wisdom of Eve yoga book created by photographer, Sandy Edwards, has been picked up, expanded on, and revised by an American publisher. It’s selling well there, as well as in Australia.
  • I was a presenter at the Divine Feminine workshop in Sydney for the second time. I met some old friends and students there and inspired many ‘goddesses’ to enjoy their female embodiment through yoga.
  •  In April, for the first time, I got to see and ply the mighty Murray River in South Australia. I had a thoroughly enjoyable experience on a houseboat in the company of my women’s group for three days. We are a group of 8 women who have been meeting annually for 14 years. Afterwards, we were joined by others of our family, including Daniel, for four more days on the houseboat. A blissful experience of eating, drinking, telling stories and an adventure in new territory!
  • Near the end of July we packed our wedding outfits and headed to Ohio, USA, to celebrate my niece Whitney and her finance at prenuptial events and then at the wedding itself. The setting on Lake Geneva was romantic and beautiful, the weather was perfect and a much loved couple are now man and wife.
  • After the wedding we headed west in a camper van. Like the story Blue Highways, we kept to the more quiet back roads of northwest US and took in an area less populated, more rugged and beautifully wild than I’d seen before in my native land.
  • The Burning Man festival was indescribably wonderful and, to be honest, sometimes horrible. If you’ve been to this Nevada desert event, you’d know what I mean. It’s where the difficulties you experience can get overcome and translated into good war stories in that alchemical way we humans have of finding gold in the most unusual places. 
  • We finished our American sojourn in the beginning of September in Seattle where we met with Meg and Grant and had a lovely visit. Seattle is Daniels birth place so as we visited his old stomping grounds. It was sweet seeing some of his memories come alive.
  • I haven’t mentioned writing. I guess it’s because it’s the air I breathe. My blog continued to grow in popularity and reach. It’s helped me gain recognition as a respected yoga elder and given me a platform to share my wisdom. My aim is to write, not in a preachy way, but in my particularly intimate and homespun brand that grows out of putting yoga tires to the road.
  • Singing is always a pleasure always. I’ve participated in the Joy of Singing weeklong workshop at Bellingen, and done weekly practice with Wingsong choir. In the best possible way, the singing I do stretches me in a different way than my yoga does.
  • Life is so good. We finally got our new car. Would you believe another Forrester in the household? The vehicle carries our new Hobie kayak very nicely, with bike racks and a hitch to pull our boat.
  • Daniel and have had lots of relaxed time to do the activities we love: bush walking and camping, cycling, and of course kayaking. We’re both super fit!
  • Life is good. Oh, I said that before. And, I am hugely blessed!

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The Archives