Life's Journey
Have you ever taken a moment to ask yourself what exactly is it that dictates our life’s journey? ..
Some of you may recognise the photo above that is St Martins Lane in Covent Garden London. On the right hand corner just slightly up from the Duke of York theatre is ‘Freed’ arguably manufacturers of some of the best ballet shoes money can buy, and the only shoes as a young child I really wanted to wear .. ‘en pointe’ of course ! ;-)
My dream place to study was rather than the Royal ballet school, to be The Arts Educational Schools, ( the residential school in Tring Hertfordshire ) Don’t ask me why, all I remember is as a studious 9 year old I had done my research and even sent away for the school prospectus !
Either impressed by my initiative or exasperated by my insistence, my parents agreed to take my dancing obsession seriously and began looking at ways of how they might fund a serious journey into dance training! The first ‘red light’ however for my Mum, was a ballet mistresses advice that my ‘tight hips problem’ could easily be rectified by an operation to dislocate, then re-set them in a
much more ‘open setting’ that would result in a much more ‘open turnout’ far more conducive to dance ! .. The second was when the powers that be who gave education grants out at our local authority, refused to give a grant to a child so young to study dance who may then change her mind a few years down the line about what she wanted to do with her life ! ..
They were right, and they were wrong .. I continued with my passion for dance into my late teens, got a place to study it prior to leaving school, but took a year out to discover more about my heritage and all things fun associated with being an au pair in my beloved Switzerland 🇨🇭! .. A year later however my dream of dance had turned into a strong desire to pursue a career as a ‘serious actress’ ! .. So I auditioned to ‘Arts Educational Schools London’ and the rest as they say is history!.. Too much ‘resting’ and not enough ‘action’ then an opportunity to fly for a living a few years later at a time when it was more of a way of a life rather than a job, took my ‘life’s journey’ in a different direction..
What was it then that initially attracted me to yoga ?
A dance related injury where I’d pushed into splits too hard and really damaged my hamstring!
Do I now hate the pose ?
No I love it !
Do I continue to practice it ?
Yes
Is it easier now after all these years of practice?
No, my hips are naturally tight..
however yoga continually teaches me to exercise patience, to breathe with the movement and exhale/relax into feelings of discomfort and tightness.
To ‘allow’ my belly to relax !..
To keep working on myself, but without judgment..
and although none of this comes naturally, it is the daily practice and discipline of yoga that as a now ‘half centurion’ !.. I can say is my true life’s path.
How about yours ? ..