YOUR TRUE HOME Author unknown
Throw the doors wide open and step into the enormous palace inside of you.
Breath into every space
Feel every sensation.
The joyful warmth of shared love and the vast emptiness that sometimes echoes around your heart.
The excited clarity of inspired thoughts as well as that cluttered maze inside your mind.
That deep spread of satisfaction at the end of a good day,
and the tight knots that sometimes curl into the pit of your belly.
It’s your body
It’s the field of your experience
It’s your true home
It’s where you belong.
My thoughts have been directed towards identifying what it is that holds me, aids me to move over, under and around the general ‘chatter’ and sense of tension I see and hear around me. That is, the sense that everything is moving faster and that there is 'less time'.
We know that time is our perception but perhaps this sense of unease sounds familiar?
So the question, to myself, has been how do I avoid that feeling of overwhelm? How do I work to maintain a sense of being grounded, 'at home' in myself? And can my personal understanding be of assistance to anyone who is struggling around this issue?
Upon reflection, I recognise a few practices that help me:
Firstly, I am good with routine. I like regularity in my life, activities that are familiar and even predictable. However, I also have a strong need for change and adventure. It is like these too are a part of my routine, though not on a daily, weekly basis. It feels a good balance for me.
I meditate regularly, often a simple breath practice, which gives me a strong sense of grounding.
Every day I move my body. I mix it up, with yoga usually being a part of the mix. My mind and body like the variety.
And I keep life simple. This includes saying NO to things that may be interesting or fun but I know are 'too much' for me.
While considering these practices, the article below dropped into my inbox. It brought me a smile and a laugh and confirmation that the slow, the considered, the personal touch and word is enough. It also brought fond memories of my father who resisted using a computer even for email in days when my siblings and I lived away and phone calls where expensive to far flung corners of the country and globe. My joy, in his not adopting the new, in using slower ways, was that I regularly received good old fashioned letters.
While texts are quick and it is lovely to hear someone’s voice on the phone, there was something special about receiving letters from my father. A letter is considered, not quick and spontaneous. The written word offers a sense of touch with the mark on the paper and then there is the effort of getting to the post office.
I hope the piece below inspires you to consider the choices you make:
PLEASE USE AI (From a newsletter by Tim Ferris.)
Don’t let the title fool you. It’s a beautiful reminder to remain human, despite pressures to mimic the machines we use. This piece brings to mind a Kurt Vonnegut passage that is about telling his wife he’s going out to buy an envelope:
“She says, ‘Well, you’re not a poor man. You know, why don’t you go online and buy a hundred envelopes and put them in the closet?’ And so I pretend not to hear her and go out to get an envelope, because I’m going to have a hell of a good time in the process of buying one envelope. I meet a lot of people and see some great-looking babes. And a fire engine goes by, and I give them the thumbs up and ask a woman what kind of dog that is. And… and I don’t know. The moral of the story is, we’re here on Earth to fart around. And don’t let anybody tell you any different. And, of course, the computers will do us out of that. What the computer people don’t realize, or they don’t care, is we’re dancing animals.”
Read this too: https://shawnsmucker.substack.com/p/please-use-ai
“Doing nothing is powerful”
Words fromJudith Hanson-Lasater (Restorative Yoga teacher)
As you know I am big on rest in many forms: sleep, naps, Restorative Yoga and Yoga Nidra (class details below). However, there is one form of rest I struggle with; The Pause, that time between activities. Instead of stopping and taking a breath, I fill these spots and I confess that sometimes it is by picking up my phone.
Our brain likes these pauses. It is suggested that the ‘brain may be doing its most important work when you think you’re doing nothing’. The pause gives the brain an opportunity to process what we have been doing, learning, experiencing.
The pause between activities does not require closed eyes or lying down but a simple a non-doing moment, a moment to ‘smell the roses’. And when you pause, feel into your body. What do you notice? When I do this I observe the sensations in the body, my emotional response to what I have been doing.
At this moment I have stopped, because I can not find the right words, expression.
How do I feel in my body? I feel frustrated that I am still 'tidying up' this newsletter.
It is a moment I could pick up my phone or ask ChatGP for help but I will pause. I will do 'yoga off the mat' and take a few longer slower breaths.
I know it is best to allow the time it takes and not fill in this blank space.
And on reflection I recognise that, to NOT pause is perpetuating the myth that 'there is no time'.
Read about the benefits of doing nothing:
https://theconversation.com/your-brain-may-be-doing-its-most-important-work-when-you-think-youre-doing-nothing-291190?utm_campaign=the-weekender-39509&utm_content=the-weekender-39509_uk%7C177%7C39509%7Cb3776529&utm_medium=email&utm_source=braze&utm_term=Your+brain+may+be+doing+its+most+important+work+when+you+think+you%E2%80%99re+doing+nothin
Time to Rest
Sunday Eve - A Deep Nourishing Rest
1st Sunday of the Month
@ Breathing Space 4-6pm
October 4th
November 1st
December 6th
Cost is $40, with an early bird price of $30 when booked a week in advance. Please contact me for enquiries and booking details.
If you are unfamiliar with these yoga practices, Restorative Yoga and Yoga Nidra, be encouraged, they are gentle and nourishing. Details are in the last newsletter
NEW CLASSES:
Tuesday morning @ Mt Stuart (particularly suitable for older folk and those who are finding movement and balance challenging.)
Restorative Yoga and Yoga Nidra Sunday Evening @ Breathing Space (monthly, 1st Sunday)
For more information contact me: https://www.foodandbody.com.au/contact
Offerings
ways to nourish yourself
Yoga Retreat
January 27 - 30th, 2027, Winnaleah
Start the year with time in nature, to:
Nourish the heart, mind and body.
Immerse yourself in yoga that is grounded and therapeutic.
Linger in the beauty and stillness offered by the environment.
Plunge into the river or lake to refresh, revive.
Connect, share, laugh around the dinner table.
Book Now to confirm a place.
Numbers are limited numbers - fully booked last year.
Payment is due in November.
More details www.foodandbody.com.au/yoga-retreat
THE SENSES
The way into your feelings.
Smell - what I am smelling?
In autumn I planted some Brown Boronia that are now flowering and offering up their glorious fragrance.
Taste - what I am eating?
Asparagus Soup
A light asparagus soup, the fragrance enhanced with ginger and lime.
Asparagus Soup
Ingredients
Prep: 10 mins Cook: 20 mins Serves: 4 (as a starter)
1 medium onion
1 tablespoons oil
1 lime
1 tablespoons finely chopped ginger.
500 gm (1 lb) asparagus (weigh after trimming the stalk)*
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
500 ml (2 cups) vegetable stock or chicken stock
2 tbsp coconut milk**
2 teaspoon fresh lime juice
2 tsp tamari (optional)***
chives (optional)
Method
HEAT oil in a heavy based saucepan to a medium temperature.
CUT finely the onion and fry for 5-10 minutes, stirring to ensure it does not colour.
ADD the ginger and lime zest and cook for 2 minutes.
CUT the asparagus into short lengths and add to the pan, cooking for a further 5 minutes.
ADD salt and pepper and enough stock to cover the asparagus.
INCREASE the heat, bring the stock to a gentle simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. (Check that it has softened. Do not over-cook as you will loose the vibrant green colour.)
BLEND the asparagus.
RETURN to the heat before you serve but do not boil.
REMOVE from the heat and add coconut milk and lime juice to taste. (Add more lime juice or salt as necessary.)
GARNISH with chopped chives and serve.
Serve
As a tasty starter or light meal with bread.
Notes
* Remove the stringy lower stalk. (To ensure you remove all the woody end, bend the asparagus at the lower end – it will naturally snap off. Use this end for vegetable stock.)
** Add the coconut milk and lime immediately before serving for a creamy texture. If you increase the quantity of coconut milk the intensity of the aspargus flavour will be reduced.
*** Tamari is a tasty addition, although the colour of the soup will not be as vibrant.
Sight - what I am seeing
Margaret Preston
The exhibition at the NGV is worth a visit, if you are heading to Melbourne over the next few months. In addition to her iconic floral paintings and monoprints, there is a thoughtful presentation and discussion of her appropriation of aboriginal imagery within some of her later work. This is supported or supplemented by responses from aboriginal artists, Deanne Gilson, Gordon Bennett and Trevor Nickolls.
Sound -what I am listening to?
Morning Birdsong - a glorious waking call.