Wishing you all a Merry Xmas & a Happy new year
May we all find calm and inner peace whatever may be going on around us
It feels hard with everything that is happening in the world right now, to even feel festive. Yet it is exactly when there is adversity – whether in the world at large or in our own lives, that we have to make more of an effort to connect with the things or people in our lives that bring us joy and that help to ground us in the present moment.
It is an opportunity to find ways to raise our own vibration when so much around us seems to be negative. By doing this, we can create positivity – small gestures of kindness daily, has been shown to improve our mental health.
I have continued to enjoy and still be in awe of the power of acupuncture and my EFT tapping work. How sometimes, the simplest of interventions, just one needle, can open up the body and tension is palpably released in an instant. I feel blessed that after 33 years in practice, I can still get excited about what I do. I appreciate all of you who have entrusted me with your health and well being and I hope to continue to enable you to make changes in your lives, both physically and emotionally.
In spite of the busyness of working life, it has been really important for me to make time for moments in nature and to have breaks.
This is the time of year when we also start to reflect on the year gone by and also start to look ahead at what the next year will bring and how we would like our lives to look. The new year is the time we resolve to make changes – and we all know how challenging it can be to change hard wired habits… we start out with good intentions and then slowly they fall by the wayside.
At the start of this year, inspired by being in beautiful nature, I decided that I wanted to write a haiku a day. A haiku is a short poem, that originated from Japan – with three lines – 5:7:5 syllables in each line. Instead of writing a diary or journalling, it was a way of recording one experience or something that had caught my attention that day. Sometimes, I’ve ended up writing my haiku one or two days later, but I am proud to say, that I have almost completed my challenge and have a lovely record of the year gone by, marked in this lovely simple form.
Here is the one I wrote – by way of setting the scene for this project:
A moment in time
Noticing what surrounds us
Stop, pause, look up, breathe.
Over the last year, I also invited other fellow swimmers to share haikus, particularly around the equinoxes and solstices that mark transition points of light throughout the year. Here is one I wrote around the solstice last year.
Mist envelopes pond
Like a blanket of soft cloud
Magical moment
Swimming several days a week at Hampstead Ladies pond, is a wonderful opportunity to connect with nature, even in the city. Research has shown, that going outdoors first thing in the morning, soon after waking up, is another way to improve mental health.
Other highlights have been – at times unexpected – opportunities to swim outdoors, more recently in beautiful lakes – in Switzerland and Germany – facilitated by kind colleagues during my teaching weekends abroad. For these moment, I am eternally grateful.
In our choir this term we sang many heartfelt songs including some in Zulu, but the words to a simple tune we sang in four part harmony, captures a simplicity that can be so hard to attain. If we only try less hard and trust that the universe will provide what we really need, then we could maybe just breathe a bit deeper and relax.
No more holding on
Now I can flow like a river
No more holding on
Let go, surrender and flow
