Awakened Living

When the world is still dreaming

I slip out of bed

to indulge in the sweetness of dawn.

The morning is gentle

and the soft amber hues warm my body.

And as I sit,

the rich silence

begins to stir

my

awakened

soul.

~

Hey beautiful. I was sharing something really quite personal this morning via our online Daily Dedication Meditation group and I wanted to share a little more about the experiences and journey I’m on right now during this lockdown. I’m actually finding it super soothing; having this much free time to read, contemplate and meditate and I feel like my soul is waking up a little more each day.

Practises

I’ve mentioned to you before about the practises and, kind of, rituals that I get up to in a morning and it’s this consistency that I’m maintaining during lockdown which is deepening my practise. I’m trying lots of new meditations and something that I’m finding REALLY immersive and beneficial is japa meditation. That’s the one with the string of beads – sometimes known as the mala beads. Repeating sacred mantras have a really profound effect. They start to create new neural pathways in your brain and begin to connect you with the deeper essence that’s within you.

I’ve also been practising taking all of my practises away from the mat (or off the meditation cushion) and am trying to bring them into all areas of my life. So, for example, I’ll try and remember my divine nature while I’m stirring my cup of tea or remember to be thankful when I mess up filming a yoga video (instead of cursing- it’s a hard practise!!). And in this way, I’m starting to see more and more the beauty of life everywhere I look.

Also, I haven’t been walking a whole lot these last few weeks with finishing my university course, concentrating on the website etc. But this last week I’ve been trying to get outside more and reconnect back in with nature; always a great healer. And rediscovering my love of podcasts! And if you have been practising yoga with me this week or have been with me in the DDM group, so much of my inspiration this week has come from these podcasts!

Community

What can I say about this community we’ve created together? I don’t know what I’d do without you? I don’t know what I did right in my past life to deserve this? All of the above? I feel so, so blessed. So lucky to share this time with you. And seeing your face, being in your living room or your garden with you, is extremely humbling. Those of you that tune in each and every week, I can’t express my gratitude. It’s truly something incredible and continues to humble me each time I see every one of you.

I think, especially during this Corona time, we have come to re-appreciate the value of community. We keep each other sane, we let each other know we’re there, we offer a listening ear, we create value for each other, we appreciate each other. It’s something really quite magical.

But I think my favourite part of being part of this community is knowing that I’m not alone. When I reached out this morning about my personal insecurities, I felt held by the love and compassion that you expressed. When I had a low week towards the start of isolation, so many of you told me you felt the same way or that you were struggling in similar ways. It wasn’t just reading a quote on Facebook saying “we’ll all get through this together”, it was the living embodiment of that. It was real people, with real feelings, really letting me know that I’m in this with you. That we are all in this together.

Looking Forward

Looking forward. I try not to look forward too much. I used to be a person that plans out each molecule of time and then experienced extreme upset when the world didn’t go the way I planned. So I’m becoming more of an adaptive and responsive person and just try and move with the wind- whichever direction it takes me in.

But what I do know, is that this awakened state that I’ve been dipping my toes into for these past few weeks is only going to deepen. Yoga is a beautiful practise and being able to share knowledge and teachings with you is a huge blessing and something that I take super seriously! And part of that is having some SERIOUS fun together!! Whether it’s in person or through the computer, you KNOW that there’s always going to be laughter involved. This journey and this path that we’re on only gets more and more beautiful with each step and I’m so thankful to be walking it with you.

Love,

Grace xo

[If you would like further details about the meditation group, japa meditation, the podcasts I’m listening to or ANYTHING else, just let me know.]