Barefoote Bliss

I apologize most sincerely for neglecting my little blog spot , but it has been a very busy month!
I have been coming up with all sorts of ideas for fundraising and trying to put them into motion as well as creating my own little Yoga class!

I also suddenly realized that treehuggersresolution was being dominated by this new endeavor so I had to create a sister site where matters related could have there own home.

So after much toiling (mostly on the part of my extremely generous and patient husband)...

It's up... Tree huggers sister blog... http://barefootebliss.blogspot.com/ is up and running!

So back to basics, I recently received my new shampoo and conditioner... not at all toxic and not at all expensive! It is made by MOP or Modern Organic Products... and its awesome!

i have been re-inspired after attending Adi Carters Detox workshop yesterday... in which she dealt considerably with matters environmental...
for some really scary stats... check out this site...http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Ocean/Moore-Trashed-PacificNov03.htm

Adi also promotes Pangea Organics... which i look forward to trying i the near future.

My war on plastic has been upped a notch ...  a massive, greedy war is being fought at the moment over oil, most of the crude oil in the world is used to make plastic, a large majority of which we smear on our skin (oh vanity), ingest (via the leaching process occurring within almost all plastic containers) or scatter about the planet...  aren't we a perplex (read: ridiculous) species.

More challenges..

and the bustle continues... my list of ideas to raise money for SEVA, grows and shrinks as I conceive the ideas, send out proposals and then deal with denial.

Every two weeks the participants in the challenge make an international conference call to discuss their progress etc. I have as yet not been able to make this happen but have listened to them on the long train trip home.

Yesterday, one of the participants said..."the hardest part is asking, not hearing the NO", and well I mostly agree. At the moment its all pretty hard. Another mentioned that sometimes we don't necessarily reach our goals the way we had planned... I'm really finding this to be true. The people and connections i think will definitely come through- don't always, and often unsuspecting others do! I think I am happy with this, as long as they balance out!

I continue to find inspiration though, yesterday I was lucky enough to attend a yoga class with Adi Carter, a yogaslacker , and activist. Her class was fabulous and her much needed post class words of wisdom were very appreciated. Next weekend we will be attending 'Redefining Balance' a yoga slackers event in Tokyo, I am guaranteed to find some inspiration there!

This morning (very early), my friend Mike, a great photographer, started taking some photos for what will be my yoga blog, and the site where I will be SEVA related writing... it was freeeeezing, but fun and it looks like he has done a great job.

I am now sorting though pictures so that some may be edited... and really having to look at myself, not always easy i tell you but very valuable. Trying to see yourself through the eyes of others can be very humbling in so many ways (so can asking for money!)

Busy Busy Busy

Since signing up for the SEVA challenge, my life has been a blur of meetings, brainstorming, researching and letter writing! In between all of this however, I did manage to find a small sanctuary of luurrrv!

On Sunday I attended a Thai Yoga Body Workshop with Jonas Westring, and it was bliss.

Learning to give a Thai massage while doing yoga is especially nice because in order to give a massage you have to receive one too, so there is a neat little reciprocation of giving and receiving which I fancy a whole lot!

I also attended a meeting with my dear friend Pete who has agree to help me with my first fundraising event... (which might be a trifle challenging but is apparently feasible nonetheless !). so watch this space

Another morsel of Inspiration!

Finding Inspiration...

Since accepting and posting about my decision to take the SEVA challenge, my feelings have been oscillating between "what the heck am i doing" and "my heart is going to explode i am so excited!"

I have spoken about "inspiration" before but never before has it resonated in me as profoundly as it is right now. A long list of ladies and the phenomenal things they are doing are streaming into my awareness. Last night I was totally captivated by Julia Butterfly Hill and her amazing feat, I listened to series of interviews she did, and something she said actually made me tingle...

"You are everything you need to be right now, you are the perfect person for what you have to do in this life!"

Brene' Brown, another source of inspiration, has dedicated this week to self worthiness... You are worthy! I love how these two message from 2 ladies I so admire came to me echoing one another within 24 hours!

I have sat down and really worked at a plan, i have brainstormed and done some research and I know that i can do this challenge.

Today I received my first donation of $100 and I have set up a meeting for one of my possible events! So far so good :-)

I am inspired!

Mission

Off the Mat, Into the World® (OTM), a program of the nonprofit, The Engage Network, is dedicated to bridging yoga and activism. Founded in 2007, OTM’s mission is to use the power of yoga to inspire conscious, sustainable activism and ignite grassroots social change.

Yoga is a powerful path of personal transformation. At its root, the word means ‘union’ – of mind, body and spirit. Yoga opens our hearts and expands our awareness of self creating space for balance and deep change in our lives.

OTM helps individuals take the path of yoga “off the mat and into the world," expanding the sphere of change outward to local and global communities. We do this by facilitating personal empowerment through leadership trainings, fostering community collaboration, and initiating local and global service projects. Our work focuses on three core areas of development:

On a mission... My Big Challenge!

For the past 2 years I have tried to do something substantial for charity. These have been mostly fun fundraisers that have raised a relative amount of money for South African charities... but not quite as substantial as I initially intended them to be.

When I decided to pursue my passion in yoga, it was for a number of reasons, one of them was to use it to try to make a valid contribution to the world. Shortly after attaining my yoga teachers qualification, Rob and I decided to head back to South Africa, (after a 3 year stint abroad), also for various reasons but partly because one of the "epiphanies" I had while doing my course was that if I was going to continue to 'try to save the world' I should start in my backyard, South Africa.

Then, yesterday I came across a mail I had saved regarding a particularly special group of Yoginis from "Off the Mat, into the World", who are working wonders world wide through yoga. Their next big mission ( along with umpteen others) is a trip to South Africa, to create a grass roots project that will assist AIDS orphans. Now I ask with tears in my eyes, "How can I not participate/contribute?"

So I have boldly signed up for this challenge which basically entails trying to raise $20 000 by December 15th, so that these beautiful women and hopefully myself, can go and spread some love around my very own stomping ground.

I am grateful, excited, nervous, motivated, and brimming with ideas, but I really, really need support.

I am going to try to make this a personal challenge, try not to get stressed about it and enjoy the process and try be content in the knowledge that people out there really, really care!

OTM uses the power of yogatoinspireconscious, sustainable activism andignitegrassroots social change. We do this by facilitating personalempowermentthrough leadership trainings, fosteringcommunitycollaboration, and initiating local and global service projects. We see yogis everywhere taking their yoga off the mat and into the world.

Join Our Movement

Reflections... and a bit of checking in

Somehow we are already in the third month of this year... which seems to be a good time to assess my progress in terms of "The Big 7 Re:Solutions". I have to admit I'm kinda chuffed with my progress in general so far and am rather giddy with the journey, there is of course always room for improvement.

So here is a step by step check in:

#1 Stand against consumerism...

To date, I have managed to keep my clothes buying to an all time low. I have frequented the used clothes shop maybe a little more than usual~ but am still handicapped there, as most of the 'donors' are size teeny. I have to admit I bought a poncho (for Rob) and a scarf (for me) in Mexico, that although handmade by locals are not organic. I also had to stock up on underwear in a hurry before I left, and although from Muji, an environmentally friendly stockist, they were not organic either.

#2 No more plastic

I have somehow managed to loose 2 of my three eco bags, which is posing difficulties... I really want to convert some old clothes into shoppers... but I don't have a sewing machine in Japan. I might have to just bight the proverbial bullet and buy new shopper... I do find this contradictory to re:solution 1 however.

#3 Qualify as a Yoga Teacher

Check Check Check.... woohoo!

This has been THE most rewarding challenge I have set myself, and although accomplished, I feel the journey has just begun. Next week I begin my search for venues and hopefully I will start classes in the near future! watch this space!

#4 Finish outstanding degree

registered for last module, first assignment submitted... so far so good!

#5 Raw food challenge

We have been following our green lemonade morning start, and fruit only until lunch time pretty religiously. The food at Yandara, was spectacular and organic and mostly raw... the week after course was not at all raw and consisted of mostly cheesy, creamy Mexican cuisine. Since being home, I have been maintaining the juice and fruit, aiming at raw and integrating some Ayurveda principles in our diet (which I hope to learn more about), and (blush)... in saying all of that, I am sitting in a heady, chocolaty ,aroma caused by the 'rainy day brownies' cooling in the kitchen. So maybe need a bit of work here, ahem.

#6 ~ less face-eat-your-time-book

This is not an excuse... but on my return, after a month away, I had an inbox of new mail that stretched over a multitude of pages. I have been spending a great deal of time responding and resolving and updating. I'm giving myself until the end of this week... and then back on the rations.

#7 More time for hobbies

I am dismally failing in the harmonica and Spanish department! Although Mexico did wonders for my Spanish, since being back, I have been quite centered on yoga, finding new workshops, preparing for our future and spending time with y husband, all of which are more than passable alternatives in my book!

"I am you, You are me, We are One"

Among the many amazing things that happened to me on my wee journey… was an influx of little epiphanies/ revelations / “penny dropping” moments. I would like to say that one day when I was sitting beneath that beautiful fig tree (pictured below) I suddenly had the mother of all ‘Ah ha!’ moments, but alas most of my experiences were of a more subtle nature. In fact they were more rediscoveries or… creating a path from my head to my heart where my understandings could travel with ease.

One of these “rememberies” that has reappeared today is that of ‘interconnection’. No matter how we look at it, we are all an element of an incredibly interconnected masterpiece. I realize this again and again when I meander through the musing of others and find myself exclaiming, “No way, I was thinking the same thing! Or, even when I am made aware of the incredible acts of charity happening throughout the world, people giving and caring for one another as though they were family.

Without detracting from the beautiful individuality that colours our world, we are all essentially beings trying to survive, trying to find love, trying to find a space of comfort and security. When you understand the interconnection, you suddenly start to realize how much we inevitably affect everything around us, how a simple action or word can have massive repercussions on the lives of others. This can seem terrifying, when you start to care, how easy it is to unknowingly make or break somebody else. Some say ‘do unto others as you would have done unto you” others will call it karma or even cause and effect, at the end of the day the message is unanimous~ when you look into the eyes of someone else… it is impossible not to see a slightly distorted reflection of your self looking back, I’m reminded to take the time to actually see that self.

Home sweet home

Home is where the heart is… I am home.

After 26 days, traveling 9026km (give or take) to and around Mexico and back again… I am finally back in Japan. Not that I could really ever refer to Japan as technically being home, it was where I left a significant piece of my heart and so it is very special to be reunited.

The thing is however; a large part of my ‘coming home’ happened way before I left the sunny shores of Baja, it happened without going anywhere except into my heart. Coming home has for me, essentially become about realizing that, we are always home when we are living true to ourselves or at least attempting to.

I have been studying, trying, pushing, examining, etc for ages in order to become better acquainted with places and spaces in my heart that make up the essential me, and then, when I finally let myself just become something I wanted to be (a yoga teacher, a friend, an adored wife), suddenly there I was. A little more of me.

In order to recount what happened during my travels I would probably have to divide it into 2 segments… the external journey and the internal journey. I feel at this stage, both could be epics and so much integration and consolidation is required before I start spewing out random recollections. So, I am going to let my story emerge slowly, with purpose in its own sweet time, perhaps here, perhaps in conversation, it doesn’t really matter. What matters is, here I am, almost home on so many levels.