Long time no read! I hope this finds you well and ready to step into the coziness and naturally more inner-focused fall season.
As I shared with you in the last post, I’ve always had resistance to leave summer behind me. This summer was a good one, where I had the luck to drive all the way down to homey Southern France for vacations with my sweet heart and… to connect and reconnect with some of you on and around the yoga mat after a long lockdown!
Summer ended on a quite busy note, back to my teaching schedule and private clients’ practice, facilitating a public retreat, a teacher training’s retreat along with other events and professional courses in nature-based mindfulness and creative teaching. Two months filled up with exciting, enriching, and nourishing events and work.
Yet I am also welcoming that things are starting to slow down again and that the elements – sunlight, temperatures, and nature’s shifting colors – are inviting me to more quiet, slower rhythm, and inner focus!
Every fall’s entry time is a great opportunity to go with the darker and slower flow of life, to look back at the year that just passed and make space for what is coming up. And what a year 2020!
What have you learned over these past 9-10 months?
I certainly got the confirmation that life is basically a series of more than less unpredictable changes, and that we are all interconnected. During the September retreat at Mindfulness Manor, one participant shared their insight during our mindful walk in an ancient and untouched forest. She could realize and have a felt sense that all trees in the forest were connected to one another through their roots and always in “touch” more or less directly (see e.g. Peter Wohlleben’s book: the Hidden Life of Trees). At so many different levels, so do we, humans. Not only the spread of the pandemic, but also our ability to respond to it and show solidarity and help to each other illustrates this interconnectedness quite evidently.
I also learned that life is short, vulnerable, and precious. We are only able to control our actions, and this is why it becomes urgent to determine what – and who– our priorities are, pay some serious attention to what our heart deeply wants, so we can know what action to take to align with our deeper truth.
In the Bhagavad Gita, the most famous ancient – and yet so relatable – yogic scriptures, sages talked about three main types of “yoga” (or ways to practice life) to lead to ultimate freedom:
Bhakti or the yoga of devotion (Heart),
Jnana or the yoga of knowledge and wisdom (Mind),
Karma or the yoga of selfless action, i.e. action for the action itself, disinterested of the actions’ results (Body).
Our responsibility is thus to cultivate our ability to align our desires (Heart) with our thoughts and speech (Mind) and with our decisions and behaviors (Body). To me, this is integrity.
In practical term, a perhaps even more modern way to apply these teachings is to reflect on the following three questions:
“What do I truly, deep in my heart, desire?” (Heart),
“What value does this want have for me? How/who would I be if I fulfill it?” (Mind), and
“What am I ready to do about it?” (Body)
I invite you these next few weeks to refine and clarify your priorities, heart-felt desires and get ready to step into the rest of your life starting… now! 😊
I am always delighted to help and support you on the path. Here are a few possibilities:
On Nov 7, I am excited to host a backbends and heart-focused workshop, “Bending for the Heart,” at the Yoga Flat at Christianshavn. A great opportunity to refine your technique, learn therapeutics for your shoulders, and open to the wisdom of your inner gem, aka your heart!
Next year, I will be delighted to launch again a second new Teacher Training in Ashaya Yoga,® my favorite alignment-based and heart-centered yoga method! YAY! It will start in March 2021 and take place partly at the Yoga Flat Nørrebro, and for one module in Sweden on retreat! Spots are limited. Read more about the TT here.
In the past month, I started a small private practice in Copenhagen for one-on-one sessions in “integrated holistic therapy:” my own blend of coaching, body-oriented psychotherapy, mindfulness, body reading, energy work, and psycho-somatic resourcing. The intention is to offer support and personal transformation, and help you along in your process. At the moment I have one or two open regular slots. Zoom sessions are also possible. Read more here or contact me for more info.
I have also recorded 3 guided meditations (app. 15 min each) inspired by the three types of yoga the Bhagavad Gita describes. They are available freely for you, listen to them at your convenience! I suggest you listen to the audio file, and then contemplate with your journal each of the three afore mentioned questions:
Heart meditation – “What do I truly, deep in my heart, desire?”
Mind meditation – “What value does this want have for me? How/who would I be if I fulfill it?”
Body meditation – “What am I ready to do about it?”
Also, I know it is far ahead in time, but in May 19-24 I am planning a 5-day retreat in the unique and beautiful Slovenian mountains. Yoga, nature, stunning scenery, sauna, horses, and biodynamic food… Generally, COVID-wise, Slovenia has been pretty safe and shown pretty low numbers throughout the period. Read more about this magical retreat in Slovenia.
I cannot wait to see or speak to you soon. I am always happy to hear sharing and feedback from you, so you are always welcome to drop me a line 😊
Take good care, and have a smooth transition into fall and the colder, darker season.
Love & light,
Cédric
