Earth Day Yoga and Writing

Editor’s Note: we apologise if you are receiving this twice! Somehow the first one got deleted.

“The universe corresponds to the nature of your song.”  Michael Beckwith

Earth Day fell on Sunday 22 April this year so a special event was held at our new studio: our inaugural yoga and writing immersion. We took time out to go within and venture deeper on all levels of our being.  This is what I call “extreme self care”, making time to connect with something so much greater than our small everyday self. Our day opened with a quote that reflects this so beautifully:

“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait so see what others do.”  Mahatma Gandhi

By raising our own vibration we affect everything around us and this was our contribution to Earth Day as we spent Sunday afternoon investigating on a deeper level.

Kel and I enjoyed sharing the afternoon exploring writing before and after some yoga practice. We pondered the theme of Earth Day and one particular exercise provoked some great conversation around this year’s theme, plastic. Kel took us through a gratitude journalling exercise to finish our afternoon and this is an example that I wrote that I’m happy to share.

“I am grateful for the stormy weather upon us, the smell of the rain, the sound of the leaves being blown by the wind. The birdsong in my garden, varied, intriguing and delightful.

“The sand beneath my feet whilst walking on the beach this morning, the bubbles in the sea water as the waves washed up on the sand. The coolness of the water as it reached my feet.

“The sight of a rainbow out over the ocean, magic in the air. The dark clouds approaching, rolling closer in and appearing like ink splotches in the sky, from an ink pot, various shades of grey to black.

“All this playing out on our great planet Earth, so much to observe, feel, smell, sense and taste. I put my hands into the salty sea water then rub my wet hands over my hair, bringing that element closer to me.

“Oh all this from a reasonably quick walk on the beach, barefoot on a Sunday morning, Earth Day April 22nd 2018.  I’m grateful I shared this experience with Kel – what a joyful morning as we then went on to brunch. More sensory experiences to enjoy as we enter the cafe. The rain falls and we smile.”

We will be running the Yoga & Writing workshop again on Sunday 8 July. If you’re interested in attending, please visit the High Aspirations website.

Wondering what the afternoon was like? Here are some comments from participants:

“Thank you so much for your inspiration to combine Dru Yoga and Creative Writing. The environment was very conducive to immersing myself completely in the process – the yoga provided the means to ‘go within; to find my creativity; and to stay connected to it’; the conversation about the creative writing process was supportive, informative and encouraging. I am delighted with my creative results from the workshop and feel encouraged to ‘do more writing’. :-)” – V

“Thank you for giving me a safe space to explore my creative writing. Most of my life I have written a lot of letters and stories in my head and just did not know how to translate them onto paper, not being a good speller and becoming anxious writing in the company of others has put a block on me coming out of myself. Being in lovely company of the group I was able to see things in a different light and many ways of starting writing.” – M

“I have studied Creative Writing and Writing Therapy as part of my ongoing BA and I am also a Yoga Teacher, who, not surprising, always is in search for inspiration. So when this inaugural workshop was advertised by Sarah and Kel of High Aspirations in Australind I didn’t hesitate to book in. Knowing that writing and Yoga can go very deep I was wondering how this fine line of writing from the heart and cathartic let go would be recognised and handled by the participants; and of course by myself. It turned out that Sarah and Kel skillfully nudged us onto the creative and spiritual side of things and managed to offer us a balanced and nurturing three hours of opening Yoga sequences, creative writing sessions and relaxation. Overall I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed this quiet afternoon with like-minded Yogis and, yes, looking forward to the next Yoga and Writing workshop!” – I