France Retreat: Earthly Delights
May has been off to a busy start. I recently returned from my retreat in the Dordogne region of Southern France. It is breathtakingly beautiful there and the villages, castles, countryside are a source of inspiration. The food, lifestyle, and simplicity of living in so much beauty was soul food. What fed me was spending time with a group of amazing yogis, many of them I knew and we created a sacred container for a week of community.
I held a space for us all to root down and get present to what need deeps attention in our lives so we can clear out old patterns and make room for growth. We immersed ourselves in another culture and spent time in the richness of the landscape, giving us time to experience the delight of living the French lifestyle. Yoga is about balance, neither deprivation nor decadence, feeding ourselves joy through nourishing what lights us up. Of course cleaning up old patterns takes work and a commitment to self care.
Life in the UK has brought up core challenges and with it some old roots that needed pruning. These roots are old and deep, sometimes the rooted patterns we create become fodder for other people to depend on. As we grow and evolve, we need to uproot old patterns and this can disrupt our relationships that have gotten complacent. The health of our relationships are like the branches of a tree, they reflect our ability to keep growing toward source, our light. If the roots have taken hold to fallow ground or weeds are blocking the space for nutrients to enrich us, we may have no fertile ground to grow us. There are times when we need to get our hands in the dirt and prune, pull up, peel back what is blocking us so we don’t get stuck. Soul development requires a ruthless letting go of what is suffocating the expansion and evolution of our wholeness.
People here often ask me why I would leave LA for London, and they usually are referring to the weather. In the work I do I often refer to the internal weather, because that is what’s driving so many of our outer choices. This month has been about digging into old patterns that sit in the unconscious that need awareness, attention, and a big old heap of love. This is old shit and not the first time I have dealt with it. I am leaning into another layer of clearing and metamorphosis. Getting grounded and getting mucky is spiritual. There is so much out there that says we need to be happy all the time, which creates addict energy because I need to smile or feel good. This deep work doesn’t always feel good but it is honest and real and takes us back to the truth of what needs healing and attention. It cuts away and clears so we can see from a fresher perspective. It cultivates courage to grow us into the fullest expression of who we are. This is Creativity. Creation is messy, multifaceted, non linear, so for recovering control freaks like myself, it will stir things up. If you find yourself feeling charged, Let it stir you and arouse your senses, passion is part of the process. What sits in the flame of your heart that is asking for vision and activation?
Break apart, break open, and ground in some new soil. WE are worth it! Old fear voices may whisper some BS about not being enough. Let them have their say, then call out what the truth is. Choose to write a new story, change the dialogue and get grounded in a new direction that will take you on a path of self discovery. Walking down the well-rutted roads of conditioning can keep us spinning in a circle that keeps us busy, but not in our being. Let this powerful time of disruption stir up what needs to shift and truly be the change you want to see in the world. We are all being asked to see with new eyes. Perhaps we can envision a world life that creates delight rather than destruction if we ground into our true nature and return to the garden that grows us.
Lastly, I want to share a sweet moment I had on the retreat. As I stepped into the yoga room to begin our evening class, A young lady who is dealing with her own challenges around health, school, and becoming a woman was sitting in the yoga room holding a block overhead with no coercion on my end. I asked her what she was working on? She said she could now hold the block for two minutes and she felt how it was strengthening her body, and more importantly her mind to be present and ground into this simple act. Her willingness to sit there without external stimulation and embrace the sensations that were arising without running away, disconnecting was inspiring. It was a pure, simple act of connection, union, Yoga. WE are all finding our way through this life, it is not a linear path, it will take us in so many different directions we never saw coming. May you take some time to ground in simplicity find delight in the beautiful, crazy, messy, perfect design of your life.
Sending love and gratitude,
Mia xx