Bliss in Bali

Bali the ultimate yogi haven🙏🏻

A 12 day yoga retreat & teacher training experience interspersed with great food, coffee & new friends!

Now for some down time to relax, repose & reflect at Villa Gaia Ubud.

It takes a while to absorb the energy spent, built & dispersed through the body! Yesterday's energetic back bends to today's quiet contemplation seems worlds away. 

Time now to focus inward & rest before making my move home. This comes with a steady aim to increase my yoga practice & bring some of that energy & grounding to home life, work life & teaching!

Namaste to you! 

DW

Meditation, migraine & munchies

 

Musings...
Seven days in to the daily meditations& lets just say the week started well. I was powering along feeling well & happy. But... As the week drew to a close fatigue ensued & the tiredness prevented the early morning meditation so I was fitting the meditations in ad hoc & my mind was less steady... Then the headaches hit.. 3 days.. Low pressure, stormy... Issues with the family, worries .. But on the bright side, I've still meditated every day; I've still done 3 sessions of yoga including my teaching lesson & ive found some time to be still & mindful.
Munchies...Welcome the salted caramel popcorn slice: I made this vegan version this morning adding a few changes & it looks & tastes delicious there is a vegan version & a honey version:

Ingredients:

3 cups of salted popcorn ( I popped my own on the stove top using coconut oil) I sprinkled masal sea salt on top

2 cups of chopped nuts of choice( I used peanuts, almonds & macadamias) you can used salted nuts

A handful of coconut slivers shaved 

2 tablespoons Nutelex(or dairy free spread)

2 -3 tablespoons honey or maple syrup or 1/2 & 1/2

2 tablespoon crunchy peanut butter

Method:

1. Prepare the popcorn & place in a large mixing bowl

2. Chop nuts & add

3. Add shaved coconut ( or use to sprinkle on top)

4. In a saucepan add Nutelex ; honey/maple syrup & peanut butter. Bring to slow boil

5. Once it is boiling & before it caramelises too much pour it over the dry ingredients

6. Thoroughly combine

7. Place in a flat tray or slice tin spread evenly

8. Cover with baking paper & use rolling pin or flat object to press the mix down firmly so it is flat

9. Set it in the fridge & then cut in to squares

Enjoy! DW

Forty morning meditations a gift to myself

Back from Melbourne and into life's usual whirlwind work, marking, catch ups ups and downs with kids and my own health. Poor blog very neglected 😔...

This weekend a delightful return to some laziness and sleep ins a movie and dinner out. Thinking time...

So here's the thing. A couple of Sunday's ago I had a great vegan breakfast at Chinta Designs on Scarborough beach Road Doubleview. In the living gift section I purchased two gifts. One the Dalai Lama's Cat by David Michie for my friend Lou' the other a gift for myself.. Still in its beautiful wrapping.

So why does it remain wrapped you might ask? Well funny you should... But here's the rub. It's a goal setting book for the next five years!

Despite the fact I have some goals wishes and dreams, I barely speak of them, let alone writing them down. As the scripting of them adds the air of commitment to them, of possibility of actually and the necessity to be accountable and live in to the accomplishment of them! So not to be taken lightly I say.

Returning to the point of this post... 40 days of meditation... The preface before the commitment commitment. The object of the exercise is to set the alarm 20 mins early for 40 mornings to meditate. That's it clear mind, notice thoughts, letting them go focus on the breath. I will diarise how these meditations shape my days and my weeks and at the end I will embark on my little gift my forward thinking project.

This comes also on the back of a Mindlefulness MOOC I've just finished through Monash university, which I would recommend.

See # FutureLearn@FutureLearn

Happy Week!  

Getting the groove on

The Brunswick street in Fitzroy I remember from the 90s is all but gone & the edgy inner Melbourne suburb is  now cool & classy. I met my friend after work for a drink at the Black Cat been there for years but so Melbourne & buzzing with the young & trendy. After a wine we sauntered back to the Vegan restaurant of choice for the evening. Smith & Daughters

 Smith & Daughters is vegan yum. We went for three shares:con queso dip; champignons that tasted like a rich  beef burgundy & a chickpea & rocket salad. It was tasty & so filling I couldn't fit in dessert. I washed it down with a coconut water with lime, mint & fresh pineapple. We need a place like this on the West coast. If you're visiting I suggest you book it was very busy that we only just jagged a window seat!  

Melbourne Love

The love of a good coffee

The love of the laneways

The love of the street musicians

The love of the Art Gallery 

Melbourne love...

Day two & I'm swanning about in the CBD...First stop National Gallery to see  Masterpieces from the hermitage: the Legacy of Catherine the Great..A splendid acquisition from the 34 years of her Russian reign.

Then it's off to coffee at JungleJuice bar in centre place CBD followed by lunch @ Shebeen in Manchester Lane meow@shebeen.com.au 100% of their profits go to the developing world. 

Finally a shop at Gorman not known to Perthites....

Time for a cup of tea! 

Wandering in Williamstown

Flew in to Melbourne last night hot on the coat tail of the Brownlow medal awards to see the boy from Lake Grace win the coveted prize! (We love you Fyfy).

So my team didn't make the grand final but I'm here for the week in the city of football making the most of Melbourne life & trying to have a cultural, social & dining experience. Being back with my old flat mate is a time to reminisce & enjoy some further to be shared good times. 

I wondered in to Williamstown central a la pied after a considerable lie in and late brekky. Had a good coffee from Mez Mez in the Main Street & sauntered along taking in the local vibe. I must say it was a quiet little hub generally speaking but pleasant enough. Took a few pics of the bay with its boats & battleships. A few locals were out & about & picnicking on fish n chips with the kids as its holiday time for them too! On the way back from town I was aggressively barked at by 3 territorial standard poodles: three shades black, white & creme. Very decorative indeed. 

Being Present

I've been reading a lot lately about being present to what you have, feeling grateful and being in the moment of your life; rather than living in past regrets or worrying about future outcomes. Loving yourself and loving the body that you are in and being the best person you can be, despite the obstacles. Choosing to be kind. A year or so ago I completed a Happiness project at my work place and whilst I was doing that I started trying to connect more with the here and now. The first thing I tried was to walk from my car to my office, engaging my my senses, to notice what  was going on around me; rather than thinking about the to do list,  the domestic environment I had come from,  the drive or even something just heard on the radio.

In the space of a quieter mind I actually became aware of the birds singing in the trees around me and the feeling of the wind on my cheeks. I noticed the smell of the pines and the sights of the garden. I climbed the steps with purpose and I acknowledged the people I passed. 

We do have a choice. We can quiet the troubled mind. We can be present to and accepting of the heartbreaks, the body aches, the sadness and the joy. In the world where everything is moving faster, where we find ourselves multitasking and not doing anything with a lot of intention; where we are swamped by emails, social media and advertising; there is relief in the silence. Quietness and meditation, presence and purpose.
  There is a Zen saying, "Before Enlightenment chop wood carry water, after Enlightenment, chop wood carry water."
 Continue to do exactly what you are doing just be there.   
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