It wasn’t until I started cold water swimming in April 2014 that I began to realise how lucky I was to live in a part of the world that had so many amazing wild swimming locations.
Lakes, coast, and waterfalls, you name it – north Wales has it.
So, whether you love the freedom of the salty open seas or the clear waters of lakes with majestic mountain backdrops, you’ll find one you love amongst my favourite wild swimming locations.
All I ever wanted was to be a mother. I was 34 when I had my first child and now I have three beautiful children, Freddie, Beatrice and Florence. Raising them and staying sane is the hardest thing I have ever done and will probably ever do in my life.
To be honest, up until I had children all I ever really thought about was myself. I would spend hours a day practising yoga, gosh it was so indulgent! I would clean and hoover before my practice, as the right environment had to be created, incense, music etc. Oh, how times have changed, as I roll out my mat brushing aside the crisps and crumbs from beneath it! But during those years I remember going to an Ashtanga yoga workshop, learning about the discipline of a daily practice.
In Ashtanga yoga, you are meant to practise two hours a day six days a week! I questioned this with regards to when you have children and those 6 am yoga slots are just not available anymore. The teacher’s response was along the lines of “As long as the intention is there that’s all that matters. It’s when you stop rolling out the mat that you have a problem.” He said “You roll out the mat, wherever you are and your practice might be standing at the top of the mat taking five deep breaths, or you might just be getting into your flow and you are needed elsewhere to deal with demands of your children. But no matter how long or how deeply you practise the intention is there”. I have thought about this a lot over the last six years and take great comfort from this. (more…)
Why its ok to have struggles in life…..
I went to another inspiring talk with John Fleet up yesterday. The topic was detachment. I don’t know how we got onto it but he re told a story about a beautiful butterfly and it went like this….
There was a man watching a delicate butterfly trying to emerge from its chrysalis. It looked as if the butterfly was struggling so the man, being the kind person he was, tried to help the butterfly by cutting the chrysalis open. The butterfly did eventually emerge but with swollen wings filled with water. For the butterfly to emerge perfectly formed it needed the squeezing and the struggle as it left the tiny hole of the chrysalis to drain all the fluid from its wings. Without the squeezing the butterfly dies.
Sometimes in life when we are feeling the squeeze and the strain it’s a reminder for us that struggles and effort are needed for us to grow. It’s almost as if the struggling squeezes all the negativity out of us ready for new, brighter opportunities. So the next time you are feeling the strain, stick with it and know that beautiful more peaceful times will soon emerge.
Yoganosis. Why bring yoga and hypnotherapy together?
Well, firstly they are the greatest tools that I have in my kit bag for life. They have seen me through the many trials and tribulations that life has thrown at me. They have been with me for over ten years now and I can safely say that I don’t think I would be here today with out them. I had my first hypnotherapy aged 21 at my peak of “shitness”. Post aneroxia and in the depths of bulimia and depression. Unable to get out of bed, let alone be social, hold down a job, or do any of the crazy things 21 year olds are supposed to do.
Putting yoga and hypnotherpay together, I know what physical yoga postures we need to do to get to an openhearted, free place, but it got me thinking as to what it truly means to feel open hearted on an emotional level. (more…)
Laura’s Learnings
Things I have learnt this year navigating my way through the fields of life.
1. Too much of a good thing is wonderful. So much of the time we are thinking. We think too much, we judge, analyze, dither and ponder. Yoga teaches us to get out of our thinking heads and encourages us to get into our feeling hearts. Often we don’t pursue life experiences and relationships, even though they are great, for fear of what might happen, pain and failure. It’s the negative chitta chatta that prevents us from really grabbing life and living fully. But my experience is, if we simply get out of our crazy thinking heads and get into our bodies, we stand a much better chance of flowing with the greatness of life. When things feel good, we are then able to run with them. Stop dithering and analyzing and simply go with all the good things that come your way.
