Dear Yoga Friends,
We learn more than how to do the pose in our yoga classes. We learn how to find refuge in the safe space of our yoga mats so they can be like a little life-boat in the turbulent waters of life. We learn the etiquette of being in the yoga space, when to be quiet, how to sit patiently. We learn how to lose our usual expectations, and how to open to curiosity about what will unfold during the class, each one so similar and yet so different. What I am learning, over and over again, is the value this brings to the times in life we travel. Travel outside your comfort zone and go to yoga somewhere else, if possible, far far away from home.
I’ve recently spent time in London and I get it. I get London! In my youth half of Ireland emigrated to London and the other half emigrated to New York. A loyal New Yorker, I always thought of London as being a bit noisy and dirty. And of course it is! Like all of the great cities. But it’s also cool and quirky and full of character, full of friendliness and full of love. Did you know they say thank you to the bus drivers in London, same as we do in Dublin? And the bus drivers will pull back in after pulling away from a stop for a lady running madly towards the bus with her child gripped in her hand. London, I get you!
The yoga studios are gorgeous. No more than our own, each studio oozes uniqueness and friendliness and that soft, cool ambience only the yogis can pull off. Music that is mellow and edgy at the same time. Clothing that is comfortable and luxurious. Professional and safe, and yet so welcoming and homely. Tri-yoga in Camden, I am your fan. The Green Room in Mussel Hill, I am your fan. Hotpod in Notting Hill, I have a date with you next time!
We go abroad and we eat and drink, we walk and shop and look around, and we do all the stuff tourists do. Travel and be like a local. Get sweaty, and lie down, and have a cry or a little sleep if you feel like it. They’ll have a yoga mat for you, you can borrow a towel if you need one. They’ll lend you a locker key, they’ll tell you the best place for coffee after, they’ll point you to your bus or your tube or your Uber, or to the rest of your life. You can have a bit of chat and banter after class, or you can go quietly about the rest of your day, nobody minds, you can be exactly as you are. You don’t have to be there person you are with your family, with your friends, as a tourist. In yoga you can be exactly as you are.
Don’t under-estimate how capable and brave you are, yoga friends. Don’t under-estimate what you have learnt and absorbed for all those hours you have put into your practice. Don’t under-estimate the exhilaration that comes from stepping outside your comfort zone. Go to yoga the next time you travel, pack your yoga pants and a vest in your suitcase, tell your travel companions you’ll see them later.
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing”. Helen Keller.
Sylvia is teaching a yoga retreat in the beautiful Burren Yoga Centre October 3rd to 5th 2025. Mini-retreats and workshops are in Mutton Lane Yoga Studio in the Dublin Mountains. Community Classes have spaces for course participants and drop ins. Outdoor yoga in Marlay Park resumes Spring/Summer 2025. All upcoming events and classes are listed here.
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