New year musings - 'Life’s never ending tapestry'

Every new year no matter whether I’m enjoying family time at the beach or visiting friends elsewhere across the globe, I make sure I have time on my own. 

Whether its 5 minutes or one hour, I believe sitting with one’s self is vital for optimal well-being. I believe we all must take the time to get quiet, BE with ourselves and truly listen to our inner most needs. This requires daily discipline and I believe it’s a courageous act.

I’ve had the opportunity, through many years of yoga practice and teaching, to witness the evolving benefits born of mindful time and have explored different ways to access my inner wisdom.

I’ve found that being in nature offers up a wonderful gateway to connect with our thoughts and senses. Simply by tuning into the rhythms of the natural world through sight, sound, touch, smell and even taste.

Sitting on the beach and listening to the environment I notice murmurs, sometimes roars, sometimes I hear nothing but space. 

I contemplate a shell that once housed and protected life and consider its connection to the sea.  I see the water, gentle with waves moving all the way out to the horizon.

I touch the coarse sand with my hands and feel its expansive sturdiness under my feet.  I feel the air brush across my face.

I smell the salty air and a meal cooking in a dwelling nearby. I taste my saliva.

While sitting on the beach and witnessing these thoughts, enjoying my morning mindful ritual, an elderly man walked by me. As he passed he reached out to ‘touch’ a rock. His movement seemed ritualistic. Perhaps it was an end goal, or point, of his morning walk?

I acknowledged his action and we spoke briefly. I learned that despite being in his 80s he was still working in law, that he walked his dog on the beach daily and that he too shared my belief in the need to have slow reflective moments in the day.

As he departed he said ‘life is a never ending tapestry’. 

Our exchange resonated with me deeply and the theme of a never ending tapestry became the focus of my final morning meditation. I considered the benefits to embracing all of the many colours and patterns of our experiences, the light and the dark the comfortable and the difficult.

January is a time when many people are making new year’s goals. My goal is to continue my daily self-care practice and to make time for connection to nature and my community.

I encourage you all to consider making time in your day for quiet reflection and witness how this benefits you in 2019.

So friends, I wish you all the best for 2019. I hope every day feels like the beginning of something wonderful in your ‘never ending tapestry’.