Even the bad times are good

I know, I know I bang on a lot about gratitude and how important it is but the lessons of gratitude just keep unfolding in my life and I just had to share my latest one.

So last night we went to a party for one of my oldest and closest girlfriends birthday. On our way home the babysitter sms'd us to let us know that Eddie had woken up and would not resettle. We got back to find him wide awake not even close to tired and bouncing off the walls.

My inner whingy pants and worry wart started up. What's wrong with him? Why is he awake this late? Is he teething? Is he having nightmares? Why is he so awake? Oh I am going to be so bloody exhausted in the morning. Why does this always seem to happen when I want to have some fun? So tired......... On and on it went.

As I lay in bed whilst my darling hubby was trying to settle the boy I had an epiphany. If being tired is my biggest problem then I am so dam lucky, if this is as hard as it gets well I am truly blessed. A wave of gratitude just washed over me and I felt so much happiness and love for the life that I am privileged to be living. I am tired because my son is healthy and happy and not because he is unwell. I am lying awake not because I have worries about where my next meal is going to come from or whether I can afford to buy my son nappies, or whether my house may get bombed tonight or not, I am lying awake with trivial worries of when my baby is finally going to fall asleep. And that my friends is exactly why my stressings are really blessings.

I had further confirmation of this thought today when having a lunch in the park when my friend said "even the bad times are good;" Even the bad times are good such a simple profound statement which tells us that we are privileged to be alive, we are blessed to be part of this crazy thing called life and yes it may not be ideal but it is still good.

So I ask again, take a moment to realise that even the things you complain about are actually a blessing. I'm not saying that you aren't human, of course you will still feel pain and suffering as this is as much a part of life as happiness and peace but if you can take a moment in the middle of that pain where you realise that you are actually very lucky it will dissipate very quickly as it did for me last night.

Love and blessings to all
L xox

My upcoming course!!

Finding the sacred within

10 week meditation and spirituality course

PEACE

it does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work

it means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.

Author unknown

Starts 8th of October 2012

Where: Juma Yoga

9 Windmill St

Tarragindi

Time: 7:30-9pm Monday night

Cost: $180 for 10 week course or $20 casual rate

Contact: Lucy Slater

lucyslater11@gmail.com

or 0407 908 125

https://www.facebook.com/yogimama11

Been a while

Gosh I know its been quite some time since I have written and you will soon see why!

So here I go time to update you on my life!

The house:
So after a few months, NO offers (that's right not even one ridiculously low offer), a crazy roller coaster of emotions and some price drops we have taken the house off the market. Trying to sell the house was one of the most taxing things I have ever been through. For any readers out there who have small children and try to keep their house in some kind of a tidy state you will know what I am talking about. However fighting the up hill battle with a toddler to keep the house clean was only part of why this was so challenging. 

It was one crazy learning curve about practicing non attachment. I was actively trying to let go of this house as well as the expectation to sell as being attached to any outcome what so ever just caused me too much pain. The build up to the open home on a Saturday, the cleaning, the mental preparation and then the disappointment was exhausting. I learnt yet again that you can have plans for your life but they often don't turn out the way you envisage, the divine almost always has other ideas for us. I learnt yet again to continuously and actively let go.

I learnt about feeling gratitude for things that I previously thought of as a burden. Suddenly I started to see this house in a different light. I realised that if no one else wanted this place that I actually really did want it and that it is their loss and my gain that I get to stay here. The mortgage which previously felt like a curse I can now see is a blessing. I am extremely lucky that I can even gain access to this kind of money, to be allowed the privilege of having a place I can call mine, a feeling of security that I have never had before. To learn the lesson (albeit hard) that we can make it and pay this thing off and we are worthy of making a profit one day, just not now.

Me:
I continue to practice meditation and yoga and I am very proud of myself for keeping this up through chaotic times. In the past self care was generally the first thing that went out the window in times of stress, but this time I realised that in these times we actually need it the most so instead of letting it go I prioritised it. For this reason I believe I didn't fall into a dark hole like I may of in the past. I processed things much quicker and even though I experienced pain I felt it, acknowledged it, and let it go. Yay me!

I am also teaching a meditation and spirituality course starting on the 8th of October. My aim for this course is to help others find that quiet space within, to uncover the place in all of us that contains pure, unending amounts of joy, love and peace. I cannot wait to show others their own potential and I am honoured to have 3 people signed up already! We are going to learn so much about ourselves and bond as a group. It is such an exciting time for me.

So I have been busy but thriving and it feels damn good to be writing again. Missed you guys!

Love to all
L xx

On Marriage

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.


Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.


Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

Kahlil Gibran

Quiet as a mouse

Gorgeous souls! I  just wanted to give you a quick update and let you know why I have been so quiet. We are in the process of selling our house as some of you already know and its really taking up my whole life in all three aspects, physically, mentally and spiritually. Keeping a house immaculate for open homes whilst you have a 14 month old is a challenge in itself. Then there is the feeling of having strangers trawling through your house picking it apart. Finally the underlying tension that resides in your belly from waiting for an outcome which effects your everyday life. 

I have to say it has also affected my relationship with C. We seem to be snapping at each other more and not really connecting as much as we usually would because there is a big fat pink elephant in the room. To say I'm tired is an understatement. It's nothing I can't handle but it is pushing me. 

I will probably stay pretty quiet until the house sells. It feels right now like there is a lot of trapped energy which will finally be released when we sell and then my inspiration will flow again. I hope it happens sooner rather then later as I miss being in that head space. I really miss tuning in to my yogimama alter ego and letting the love flow but I never want to force that side of me as it needs to come from a place of purity. Hope all is well in everyone's world. 

This week

Things that have inspired me this week:

Yoga session where I had many realisations, including the understanding of how can I ask my students to practice non violence when I am not practicing it myself? and the realisation that I am a completely different person now on the mat to what I was pre baby. I am not as strong physically but my metal state is so much healthier. I feel like I am now 'getting' it more often and that my practice previously was more ego based then I realised at the time. I also realised that I will never be obsessed with the physical form of yoga while I love how it makes me feel and know that it is critical for my wellbeing I will always be into the higher forms of yoga such as self inquiry, growth and the path to enlightenment.  

As always watching my boy grow and change. Particularly all the walking he is now doing. My heart swells with pride when I see my darling walking around and when he falls picking himself back up again and starting all over. New words that he masters as well fill me with joy. Lately his favourites are 'Daddy' and 'Bye Bye.'

Meditation practice. Getting back into it has been wonderful. I am realising after a long break that I am just happier when I have a regular practice. My moods are regulated and I am more likely to experience love, joy and peace. 

Friends; been getting back into a social life and truly enjoying the warmth and connection I feel from those in my life. I have attracted these people into my life for a reason, they resonate with me on a soul level and it feels good to reconnect. Blossoming new friendships are also inspiring me as they change my take on things and give me an alternate view.   

Believing in what I say

The other day on a walk with a friend I referred to my spiritual practice and beliefs as drivel! Thankfully she pulled me up on it and told me its not. Later upon reflection of this conversation I realised that I am self conscious of what I believe in. It seems a very different thing to sit passively in front of a computer screen typing up my learnings to saying them out loud. When I write things it is to an invisible audience, I don't really get much feedback except seeing the numbers of people reading my posts and the occasional comment so I feel much safer and able to reach out of my comfort zone. Certainly blogging has been an incredible stepping stone for me to start voicing what I believe in but the conversation the other day has indicated to me that I need to start believeing in myself some more and to be brave and take the plunge and say it out loud to a real human who can talk back to me in verbal and non verbal ways.

I have been mulling over why I feel self conscious and I think its because a lot of what I teach is left of field. I know it resonates with people from the feedback I have received but I also know it doesn't resonate with everyone and I guess I am scared of what others might think! This is a new feeling for me I am not usually one to hold back on my viewpoint, I am content most of the time to say you can love me or leave me but yogimama is different. Yogimama is not just a blog or a group of people, it is my heart, it is my soul and it reflects some of the deepest parts of my being. I am protective of it because it is fragile, there is a reason this stuff is deep and that is because i care about it a lot.

I do realise though that in order to take my teachings and self discovery to the next level i need to break out of the comfort zone, I need to be brave and shout out what I am passionate about to the world, I need to throw caution to the wind and leap. I need to be brave. Eep! So wish me luck fellow travellers and stay tuned for the next level. I hope you will join me. I will leave you with a Mark Twain quote which is very appropriate for this situation: