H is for Happiness – 3 things that can lead you there! (A – Z challenge still hangin’ in there!)

This week I returned from an yoga retreat that filled me with inner warmth and vibrated my chakras with joy.

You know how it is: life is full of work, children, partners, social obligations, to-do lists, chores, and then something bad happens to really set you back?

What if you turned that around? What if you allowed yourself, just once in a while, just enough to recharge your batteries for a long time to come, something completely different; something for you?

Start with:
Something really good happened that really gave me an enormous amount of energy! ….Then there is work, obligations, family etc.

Suddenly, all those have-to’s don’t seem so daunting, do they? Because you’ve given yourself the gift of inner calm, being cared for, being pampered.

This is what gave me joy this week:

One: A sense of weightless and stretching

• Flying Yoga!
  A yoga retreat in Camaiore, Italy, given by Naty Shteiner in hammocks!!! I’m no yogi, myself. I have tried yoga (the emphasis on try), many times over the years, but I’m not very flexible, my lower back tends to get stuck, and although I like the concept, I never really found ‘my thing’ – until I tried the Aerial (Slow/Fly) Yoga technique that Naty taught us in a few days in the most relaxing place on earth!

  

Two: Gotta get my people around me!

• A sense of community!
  At this yoga retreat, besides the relaxing but stimulating exercise, and the amazing green luscious environment, tucked right under the mountains, and the delicious food, there was something else that gave me tremendous pleasure: Friends!

  I had invited two of my very close friends to join me, and there were other women who were there as well. We were a group of 7 participants, an organizer (also a friend) and Nati. Nine women, four days. Lots of time to talk, laugh, relax together, share intimate secrets, bond. And I realized how much that sense of community is something that I love and need to have in my life.

  

  Having grown up on a boat, I’m a bit of a loner. I know how to amuse myself, and too often, I feel ill at ease in a big group, unsure of the social graces required of me, even after all these years. But this time, I was reminded of the benefits of having good, loving people around me. And I want to hold onto that feeling, and also keep up that habit, of getting together with others I care for.

Three: Listening to me

• I got back from the Yoga retreat last Sunday, and with the energy gemstone that Nati had given me close to my heart (Eye of the Tiger!) , I was able to accomplish a lot of my work, without feeling dragged down and exhausted. I found myself able to take decisions easily and to deal with issues at work without getting sucked into negative emotions.
   

  Intuitive leads me to More Flying Yoga!

  You know how Intuitive works, right? First, you feel you want something, then you put that wish out there to the universe. Then the universe pings it back at you, in mysterious but wonderful ways.

  Yesterday, I was able to attend another Aerial Yoga class – this time given by a woman named Janneke. I was so happy to be able to drive 20 min from my home and find a similar experience to the one I’d had in Italy. Since I took a friend with me (actually, she drove me!), I was also able to enjoy that good feeling of friendship and community as well.

  My own corner of paradise

•  On our way back from the Aerial Yoga center in Landsmeer, we found a cute little gardening center, and my friend didn’t mind me spending some time there as I searched for the right (and special) flowers for my wall planter that needed to be refreshed! This morning, with the sun shining again, I did some planting and loved being in the moment.

  

I feel grateful! I feel blessed, and happy that my intuition led me to say “Yes” to being good to me, investing in a yoga retreat that filled my batteries and calmed my nerves. I am grateful that I have all that I need and want within reach.

Thank you, universe!

Namaste!