hello from the road

departing from Glendalough Sanctury with full hearts

Happy Sunday my friend,

Just a wee note to say that Ireland and its lushness has welcomed us in the way it always does; with openness, grace and craic.

We have arrived yesterday in the west coast’s rugged Burren for the second leg of the journey. The first few days in the east coast were sublime. Glendalough Sanctuary was an exceptional place to land and quieten the inner noise, and nurture tranquility. Yoga nidra with Rachel and a coastal walk in Wicklow invigorated the connection with the coast and our hearts. Our small group on this retreat are holding one another like a new family, with shared practice and play.

snail’s pace to the rose petal

when ancestry leans over your path

new blossoms cradled by the sea

We have now settled into the familiar home on the Flaggy Shore for the week, where we will continue to set our intentions and insights to the many layers of making beauty of the broken in these spinning times.

Today’s focus will be on creating ‘inner space for accepting imperfections’. There is a kind of exhaustion that can loom over us, not from what life has asked of us, but from the constant effort to hide what is unfinished. We spend enormous energy managing appearances, our own included. Accepting imperfections is not resignation. It is the radical act of making room for the whole truth, who we are, including the parts that are still forming, still healing, and still unknown. For this we smile. The call to gentle-up.

It will be the Sunday prompt to be present with. The practice with it will be:

Place a hand on your heart. Say aloud or silently: “I am not yet finished, and that’s not a flaw. It’s the nature of a living thing.” Repeat it until it begins to feel true.

If you join us in this practice, wherever you are, pay attention to the heightened awareness of your presence, the rhythm of your breath, the present moment, and the absolute miracle of perfection dwelling in the imperfection. This a call to gentle-up, and smile. This is a gift that keeps giving.

thank you Rachel for tucking us into the charm of Ireland’s east coast

Wishing you a stupendous week of all that supports you in the most joyous way.

From Ireland, with love, a bow and a smile,

Gisele