This week, as you may know if you follow me on Twitter, I finally booked my flights to India.
This trip has been five years in the making. Ever since I did my yoga teacher training with my inspirational teacher Conrad Paul, in London, I have wanted to see the ‘birthplace’ of yoga, the one constant in ten years of changes in my life.
It may seem like a small hurdle to have booked flights for two weeks in October but for me, this is a massive accomplishment, both psychologically and spiritually.
The view from Chamundi Hill Palace, Kerala, India, where I will be spending two weeks in October getting Ayurvedic treatments and food and twice daily yoga and meditation 🙂
I’m not sure whether I never booked my trip to India because I genuinely had things come up, or whether there was something else going on. I always think that everything happens for a reason. Although I said that I couldn’t organise my trip because I was going on holiday with my family or I wanted to spend my holidays with my boyfriend or I couldn’t afford it or I couldn’t get the time off work, I wonder now whether my trip never materialised because I wasn’t ready for it.
Ultimately, I’m in a very different place now to where I was five years ago. Right now, I’m all about me. I have a new appreciation for my life. There are things I want to do; things I want to see and I now know that I am the only person from whom I need permission. Saying that, I’ve often been my own worst enemy in the past, preventing myself from moving forward out of unfounded apprehension for change. It’s almost as if I was scared of growing too much and out-growing my current situation.
As it turns out, growth is inevitable and if it doesn’t find you one way, it will find another way. The outcome is the same – you will change, your situation will change, what’s important to you will change and all this will not be a bad thing.
Embrace your ability to grow and change. Don’t feel bad for taking things at your own pace. You don’t have to change the world, begin with appreciating yourself and the rest will come naturally.