To the Week That Was...

After a self-prescribed week of no training to heal an injury, I was ready to rip someone’s head off. I have had a regular daily practice for about 10 years. This might include Yoga, calisthenic-type workouts and running. I don’t train to win any medals, I train to feel strong, flexible, happy and healthy. Most of the time, if I am feeling out of sorts, I take it to the mat and a few moments of movement normally puts things right.

But for this week, I couldn’t do anything because I knew I needed to reset my body to see where the strains, twists and tensions were coming from. By the second day I was getting twitchy but enjoying the renewed time I was dedicating to meditation, as opposed to it being a thing tacked on to the end of training.

The New Year came and went with little ceremony and I went for a 5K walk on New Year’s Day (not technically cheating but also not the best idea). The lack of movement (not to be confused with stillness) was not only physically demanding, it was mentally and emotionally taxing. I felt foggy and heavy with the weight of emotions that could not be expressed. It’s like how we don’t realise how grateful we are to be able to breathe through our nose until we get a cold. Someone asked me recently what spirituality meant to me and I struggled to find a definitive answer. However, after that week, I knew that a big part of it was movement – whether that be in water, dancing, exercise, Yoga, etc.

Another challenge for the week came with the passing of a friend and mentor, Gloria Hope-Price. I first met Gloria about ten years ago when I was working in Neal’s Yard Remedies in London. Somehow the discussion got onto Barbados and organic farming and I mentioned my uncle was an organic farmer in Barbados. It soon came to light that Gloria and my uncle were close friends and had been working on developing the organic movement in Barbados.

When I moved to Barbados last year, I was pleased to reconnect with Gloria and was grateful for how she opened her home and her heart to me. For me, the passing of our elders brings a sadness because we lose a canon of knowledge, characters of strength and integrity and a spirit of unconditional love. When these giants pass on it also means that we must heed the call to be of service. If I can emulate even an ounce of Gloria’s fearlessness, then I have no worries.

Whenever we think we have enough time to live our dreams,
Conquer our fears,
Share our hearts,
Right our wrongs,
Life reminds us that our time is now.