Seeds of Insight 51: Let your leaves rest
Dear Ones, Sunday MindRests are back this Autumn and Winter. Join us through the monthly subscription or simply drop in when you feel the need for nourishment. In this newsletter, you will find:
A poem & November’s self-reflection question
Join the online community with the monthly MindRest subscription: regular yoga + sharing circles with the sweetest group of people
Free sleep support yoga nidra every Sunday 8pm on Insight Timer
True Friend sessions are available again
The Season of Mist
Over the last few weeks, I have been preparing to hold my first ever week-long retreat in Portugal. The whole preparation happened amidst the stress of moving countries, finding where to live for the winter months, fixing and renting out my flat, so it is fair to say that I have been more prepared in life.
Still, in my heart, I feel ready and it also feels like a momentous moment. Greg said that at Google they call it “uncomfortably excited”. That’s me.
And also strangely both happy and sad. For the first time in my grown up life, I feel like I wished my Dad was here to see me do that. I didn’t really want him to see me graduate from a masters in maths, I didn’t EVER want him to see me work in finance - he was more preoccupied by giving than collecting more. I definitely didn’t want him to see me live in the UK. I basically didn’t want him to see me do all the things I did to escape and survive.
But now…Now I feel the weight of the loss in an unusual way. He would have been so happy that I dared to finally follow my heart. Not that I have it all figured out - I don’t. Not that teaching yoga is my calling - it’s even less so that maths:). But at least, it doesn’t feel like I’m doing what I don’t want. I do wish he could have seen me now - he would have been proud.
This is what came out of this sadness in one of the many quiet Portuguese nights (And I love writing - it’s so effortless. Who would have thought back in my old job…).
The Season of Mist
It has now been so long
That I don't even know
Did you ever exist?
Did you take me to school,
Gave me money for food,
Watched me walk in the mist?
Did you teach me to ride,
Or to ski or to drive?
Did we sing any songs?
Did you help me to hide
From the wrath of my mum
When I did something wrong?
Was there really a time
When your beautiful smile
Melted everything hard?
Were we really so close,
Did we speak about God,
Did we laugh from the heart?
All the memories fade
And the moments escape,
And I don't really know what was true.
You are gone and I'm here
The occasional tears
Still connect me in some way with you.
It's been painful to see
How this poem could be
About you and all men that I met.
How the same bond of loss
Is what I have called love
And repeated in endless regret.
When the season of mist
Comes again and the trees
Cuddle up in a beautiful veil,
There's a figure in blue
And I wish it was you...
But it's time - I am letting you sail.
On the bank I remain
In a heart-wrenching pain
Grief is taking all stitches apart.
As the boat disappears
In the mist of the years,
I discover our beautiful Heart.
Was it here all along
In the midst of this song,
Overflowing with effortless joy?
As the mist dissipates
"You" and "me" are just shapes,
In a field of ungraspable love.
November invitation to self-reflect
What are you still holding on to that is already gone?
What would you have to feel if you released the grip? What’s your experience?
MindRest Yoga Immersion + Monthly Pack are Back!
Regular online immersions of yoga, self-inquiry and yoga nidra every Sunday at 5pm just like last year. Treat yourself to a beautiful self-time ritual at the end of each weekend.
Many of you shared with me that last year’s MindRest on Sundays supported you through the winter months. Thank you for this sweet feedback.
If it serves, I’ll offer it again this autumn and winter. Starting from the first Sunday in November, we will be meeting again every Sunday at 5pm for 1h30 of yoga, self-reflection + healing yoga nidra. You can join the events as a drop-in (£12) or you can join the community through the monthly subscription, which is a more economical option if you are planning to come regularly. Beyond economical, it is also a more healing and revealing option - you get to do the full inquiry of the month and it is designed as a process that brings you to clarity and completion.
November: Let Your Leaves Rest
Every month, we will explore a different theme. November is inspired by the Autumn process of slow and peaceful death in nature - it’s an invitation to empty our cup, to let go of what’s already gone, so that we can ask some deep and potent questions and make space for new answers to arise. I’ve called it “Let all your leaves rest”.
Monthly Subscription
£30. Gives you access to:
+ 1 online yoga immersion per week + its recording. Total stand-alone value: £48-60 depending on the month.
+ a forth-nightly online circle to check in and share how you are doing
To sign up for the monthly pack, paypal me & receive all instructions and links via email. @ paypal.me/theseedyoga
Drop-in Option
£12; paypal.me/theseedyoga
Insight Timer Sleep Support: Resting Place
Join me every Sunday at 8pm UK for a free (optional donations-based) yoga nidra on Insight Timer. Yoga Nidra is the simplest, yet most profound practice of yoga - it is a practice of total rest and a form of conscious sleep with profound benefits for your nervous system. It increases your ability to unwind and fall sleep, supports you through stressful times, increases clarity, creativity and self-awareness. I would love to meet you there.
Need 1:1 Therapeutic Support? True Friend Sessions
True Friend Therapy is a form of non-directive advanced hypnotherapy, combined with the wisdom of the Enneagram of Egoic Fixation, NLP & and the gift of Silence passed to my Teachers from their Teachers Sri Papaji & Sri Ramana Maharsi.
Being a True Friend to you simply (but powerfully) means meeting you with a quiet mind and an open heart - being a humble mirror without agenda, without opinion, without judgement. I have found time and time again that this simple open meeting has a deeply healing effect and leaves space for you to see your own beautiful reflection.
It is the greatest gift I ever received and I am so honoured to extend the invitation to you
Upcoming Events
With Love and Gratitude,
Iri
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