Gratitude
10,000 flowers in Spring,
Leaves in Autumn,
Cool breeze in Summer,
Snow in Winter,
If your mind isn't clouded by unnecessary things,
This is the best season of your life. Wu Men
I recently returned from a wonderful holiday. The luxury of going slow was a new way for me to travel and I would highly recommend it. I left with a ticket to Livingstone, Zambia and a sort of plan, a list of places I would like to go, things I wanted to do and people to meet up with.
This and more unfolded and I returned very relaxed, with renewed energy and with a strong sense of gratitude. Gratitude for the wonderful moments and experiences, time with friends, old and new, in places near and far. And after all this travel and adventure I have returned home to beautiful Tassie.
Last week I was reading “Foreign Correspondent” by Geraldine Brooks. I was interested in her enquiry into her experience of growing up in 60's Sydney, the influence of a foreign born parent, and her life as a foreign correspondent.
What I took from the book was not the travel and adventure but an expansion of my appreciation for gratitude. Something I have been feeling so strongly.
She explains that there is a new understanding around happiness and gratitude; that we build and hold happiness through gratitude. The concept is that at we all have a 'happiness set point’; a personal feeling, level of happiness that we return to after difficult or exhilarating times. With this knowing the search for and maintenance of happiness is more successful if we are grateful, grateful for all those little moments that bring us a smile or joy, all those day - to - day pleasures. As Steven Lewis writes in 'Zen and the Art of Fatherhood', it is between the bread and the butter that the great moments of life are lived.
Do you have a gratitude practice, be it journaling or finding moments of stillness, times to recognise, feel and hold that smile?
Holding these moments requires time, a slowing down. Slowing down can be the practice itself.
My Yoga Retreat in NE Tassie will give you the time to explore life in slow time, to feel how these little moments of awareness and appreciation can change your state of being.
“In an age of speed, I began to think nothing could be more exhilarating than going slow. In an age of distraction, nothing can feel more luxurious than paying attention. And in an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still.”
Pico Iyer (English born essayist and novelist known chiefly for his travel writing)
Step into a blend of ancient stillness and wild possibility.
Immerse yourself in yoga and yoga nidra, go on meditation walks, eat delicious food and spend time doing just what you want, country or coastal walks, reading a good book or DNA (doing nothing at all)
Slow down and savour what you have and do in the world.
BIAT - Brain Injury Association of Tasmania
In Yoga we talk about the plasticity of the brain, the way it can develop new ways to manage difficult situations. Recovery from Brain Injury is the same, on a different scale.
BIAT develops programs to support people in recovery.
BIAW - Brain Injury Awareness Week
The theme for 2025 is Brain Injury Reframed: reframing recovery through creativity. The week will be used to feature the artworks of people living with or impacted by brain injury.
Monday 18 August 2025
A one-off gallery exhibition of the artwork created by Tasmanians impacted by brain injury.
Time: 10.00am - 12.00pm
Location: Kickstart Arts, Old School Room, 1831 South Building, St Johns Park, St Johns Avenue, New Town Hobart.
Register here: https://zfrmz.com.au/NrXOGxQJIaBubEnEFInl
Accessibility requirements: There will be 3 accessible car spaces available. They are located at the front of the Kickstart Arts Centre. Please call or email us if you have any accessibility requirements.
Wednesday, 20 August 2025
Webinar: Understanding Brain Injury and the National Assistance Card
The Brain Injury Association of Tasmania (BIAT) and the National Assistance Card are hosting a special online event. The National Assistance Card is a tool designed to support people with brain injury in everyday and emergency situations – helping to communicate and promote understanding. The Card is also available to Autistic people.
Time: 11am to 12pm AEST
Location: Online via Zoom (streamed from the Brain Injury Association of Tasmania)
Register here: https://events.humanitix.com/understanding-brain-injury-and-the-national-assistance-card
For questions please contact: Clare OR simone@biat.org.au (Simone is Peer Support @ BIAT)
Offerings
ways to nourish yourself
Building Better Bones
I continue to support bone health through Building Better Bones.
I offer a holistic approach, blending eastern and western medicine - yoga, nutrition, lifestyle factors, and support for better rest and sleep.
Select from 1:1 consults and small groups sessions. Contact me for more information.
Yoga Therapy, Ayurveda and Mindful Eating
Wanting to explore your relationship with food, nutrition, movement, or support the management of chronic illness.
I offer a 30 min free online consulation enabling you to discuss how we may work together. Contact Me
Yoga Classes
For bookings and enquiries go to my website
Yoga Safari in Zambia
3-15 May, 2026
There are so many reasons you may be interested in going to Africa.
"Why not" is the question?
Having lived in Zambia and traveled widely in Southern Africa, the Yoga Safari offers a unique opportunity. Travel comfortably with a small group (max 10) to explore, see and learn about the country, its wildlife, people and culture, while maintaining the benefits of a gentle yoga practice.
A recent clients, who is well traveled and has lived overseas, said “It was the best holiday I have ever had. The safaris just blew me away”
Get in touch, ask me questions.
THE SENSES
The way into your feelings.
Smell - what I am smelling?
The fragrance of the sea.
Taste - what I am eating?
A simple way for eggs, fresh from a friend's chooks.
Baked Eggs
Ingredients
Preparation: 5 mins Cook: 15 mins Serve: 2
1 tsp olive oil
2 slices bread
2 eggs
salt and pepper
chives (optional)
Method
PREHEAT the oven to 180 C/350 F/Gas 4.
GREASE the ramekin or muffin tray with oil.
TRIM the crusts from the slices of bread.
ROLL the trimmed slices with a rolling pin to squash them.
LINE the ramekins or muffin tray with the bread.
CRACK the eggs into the bread.
BAKE for 12-15 minutes. (If you want a runny egg yolk, remove from the oven just before the egg white is set.)
COOL for a couple of minutes.
RUN a knife between the bread and ramekin, remove and serve.
Serve
Garnish with chopped chives, crumbled feta, dukkah or a dollop of tapenade.
Notes
For Low Fodmap diet line the ramekin with spinach or ham or poach ‘en cocotte’.
‘En Cocotte’: crack an egg into a greased ramekin and bake in a tray with water for 12-15 mins at 180 C/350 F/Gas 4.
Sight - what am I seeing
A forest of sculpture.
Goodwood Art Foundation, near Chicester, UK
https://www.goodwoodartfoundation.org/
Sound - what I am listening to?
Words as Medicine - poems in a pill
From: The Poetry Pharmacy, London.
Touch - what am I feeling?
