13.8.2008

Planting trees…

It's been raining for the past few days so we spent most of our time indoors, reading, knitting, napping, talking.... Both Takako and Sharon are very good at being still, not doing anything but being happy about it. We had a conversation yesterday about our differences and how I found it hard not to do anything. But Sharon inspired me in the way that she can just watch the clouds go by in the sky and be very still and silent. Doing nothing is just as important as doing something to truly rest.

So this morning before the practise as the sun was shining through in the yoga studio I found myself lying in a funny angle to position myself to watch those clouds move, slowly changing shape, bright, fluffy, free and you know what I really enjoyed it. So I have Sharon to thank to show me the great skill of enjoying doing nothing. Anyhow, the practise was great as usual, hard at times. Lucy is sweet but very disciplined and firm in the yoga room. As I feel her come towards me I know that I'm going to have to work extra hard, to the point that my legs turn into jelly. And yet her approach is the most effective, because she really has started to change my body, I feel it longer, spacious, just more room for me to grow and fill it with wonderful vibrations…

And today was the day of planting trees. At the moment it is 7.30pm and I'm about to collapse on my bed. John, Sarah and I drove down to a local olive grove to buy 40 trees. But it wasn't just buying; we actually had to dig out 40 trees. It was amazing, trees are so precious, how they grip onto earth with dear life, those strong roots….It took us 2hours to dig them out anda miscalculation as we often lost count on how many we had load up in the car. It was only at 6pm at the end of the day when we had planted them in John's new olive grove that we realised we had 39 trees.

It was great getting our hands stuck in earth, chattering, having fun, and thinking about out the journey of these trees. My story was that; if John, Sarah and I were the universe who decided to selectively choose 40 trees out of hundreds, scare them by taking them out of their roots, their normal routine, their environment and sticking them in a truck where they may had anxieties about where they were going, and then plant them to a new, loving, nurturing soil at a yoga retreat where they are very happy…Isn't life like that sometimes? We get huge changes that are scary and unknown to us, we get put in different environments and yet sometimes we realise that it is all for the best. And the most of all we don't necessarily have a choice about some of those big changes occurring. All we have to do is go with the flow, stay centres and grounded as it is all part of a master plan…Like John's plans to make olive oil next year from the fruits of these beautiful trees.

And I really enjoyed talking to John casually about his journey in yoga. He told me that he has never taken extensive periods say a week or two off from his daily practise. And in fact there was a period in his life when he maintained 6 days a week practise for 5 years. This is where he gets his energy, his inspiration, his passion from.