Me on retreat with @zephyryoga @secretyogaclub in Tuscany
This article was written for MySatsang, an authentic new platform for yoga teachers and seekers that I founded with my fellow yogi and wonderful friend Tara O’Rourke.
“You know the ones that make you feel the most you. The ones that lift you up and help you remember who you really are. The ones that remind you that blip in the road is just that, a blip. They are the ones when you walk out of a room, they make you feel like a better person that when you walked in. They are the ones that even if you don’t see them face to face you see them heart to heart. You know that kind of tribe.” These words by yogi, author and empowerment guide Jennifer Pastiloff struck me right at my heart centre.
Satsang
Funnily I have written twice in the past week about the importance of friendship, both on and off the mat. Yoga in all its guises has brought many blessings for which I am eternally grateful. Initially introduced to the rigid dynamic sequences of Ashtanga yoga in a hot steamy studio in the middle of Hong Kong’s nightclub-fuelled Wanchai district, was where I first felt a real sense of community - or Satsang as we nurtured one another over morning practice on the mat, the friendship growing deeper, both on and off the mat, with time.
Retreating
Through my work I have been fortunate to step back from my every day on retreat in some of the most stunning far-flung corners of our world. Guided by wise experts, these transformative retreats can absolutely deliver, once you are prepared to allow change to happen. And while the anonymity that comes with heading off where nobody knows you can be liberating, there is immense power in sharing the experience with a close friend or partner. This said, choose wisely, as it must be someone who accepts and loves you, warts and all, and someone with whom you are very much at ease.
In recent years I have shared life-changing exploration and time on my yoga mat with a couple of close friends and through the laughter and the tears our shared experiences have brought us ever closer, feeling truly at ease and happy within ourselves and with one another. And, most importantly for me, is knowing there is someone there to support me on my return to my every day.
John Lockley
John Lockley is immensely proud of his Irish heritage. A traditional shaman and one of the first modern white sangomas (or soul doctors) in South Africa’s Xhosa tribe (think Nelson Mandela & Desmond Tutu), he has spent a lot of time in Ireland. Speaking with him recently about the impact of the pandemic on our health and livelihood, he said: “Our ancestors could teach us a lot and maybe we should think about what they would do if they were with us now: They would come together and pray; they would spend time outdoors calling on nature; they would have faith and courage too - all these things natural disasters teach us and if we don't pay heed, we succumb to panic and fear.”
Lockley spends several months every year with the township people living at the edge of South Africa’s mainstream culture and this is where he learnt his most profound life lessons. “These folk teach me how to let nature touch me, how to be more resilient. Nature is teaching us to adapt to change and this is my wish for us all. Many of your ancestors have gone through worse. They survived, they prospered, they became more poetic and their souls were nourished with wisdom and song. We have entered a time of new life with new songs. Listen to the birds and ask about the wild ones outdoors untamed by the trappings of cyber culture – let them teach you how to live. Breathe in, breathe out, laugh. We are all children of nature and right now, she is teaching us a lot.”
As research confirms what our ancestors the world over always knew, that the more closely we are connected to the people we love, the happier and more fulfilled we will feel, most especially as we grow older, just maybe the wider world is finally waking up? Community and authentic connection lies at the very heart of our MySatsang ethos - this coming together in truth (satya) and supporting one another - just as our ancestors did.
TRY: John Lockley’s Heartbeat Meditation practice:
This simple meditation connects us with that little drummer inside all of us. Close your eyes. Placing one hand on your heart, breathe deeply into the heart pulse and slowly let go into the spaces between each heartbeat. Do this for a few minutes every day and feel how your rhythm improves.
