**41 year old woman seeking new passion in her life….**
After 20 years in the Banking industry, with a career that enabled me to live & work in 3 continents & afford a lifestyle that was more than comfortable…one day…something happened….I woke up….to realise that in amongst having it all, I actually had nothing…This was the day everything started to change….
That was 3 years ago, and as I sit here typing this, admiring the beautiful views across the Balinese paddy fields from my veranda, I think back over the turn of events that brought me here to the Tirisula 200 HR TTC.
My yoga journey started quite by accident whilst on holiday in St. Lucia in after being introduced to it by a girlfriend of mine, who was also a stressed out city girl. We booked our holiday to Le Sport and excitedly planned our daily activities…swimming, sailing, fitness classes, dance classes, tours across the Pitons…and wait…what was this….Yoga??? Don’t they mean stretch class?? What kind of self-respecting gym-bunny, ex-dancer and ex-gymnast does YOGA I asked myself…wasn’t it for old people??
And that was were it all began…after 2 weeks of 7am classes (creeping out each morning, leaving my “yoga” friend to sleep off her hangover), I was hooked…
For 2 years, I planned my escape from the city, plotting and scheming ways to make the jump….from the frying pan…onto the yoga mat. It wasn’t an easy “divorce” from my career and after a short break and lacking confidence, I quickly found myself back in the rat-race. A job offer in Singapore was just too good to resist…great money, great location and great travel opportunities across my favourite part of the world…South East Asia. It was all going great, it was an amazing opportunity and I met loads of inspiring & welcoming people from all backgrounds…I loved it…I loved it so much until the day I fell ill…..seriously ill…life-threateningly ill…8,000 miles away from home whilst on holiday in Bali and Lombok. The day was Nov 9, 2014.
It took every ounce of strength I had to make the journey back from Lombok to Bali, and then catch that flight from Bali to Singapore. I couldn’t be seen to be ill, in case I wasn’t allowed on the flight… something inside me told me that I had to make it back to Singapore…the homing device kicked in.
Thank god I did, as it saved my life.
Under the expert care of the doctors in Singapore I was given a second chance.. I was in safe hands…although there was still a way to go yet…I remember clearly the night I make a deal with the universe to get that 2nd chance…it was 2am and I had suffered a bit of a relapse…I was all alone laying on the CAT scanner in tremendous pain whilst they pumped dye into me. I had no idea what was going on…I felt so alone…and so scared. At that point, I made a deal, I would follow my dreams, my passions and give back to the world, and leave that sordid capitalist world behind if only I could just get through this…
My wish was granted…
And so I find myself here today….graduation day, scrambling to finish my blogs…I blame my lateness on the fact that I enjoyed myself too much on this trip, meeting amazing people and making new friends, and generally relaxing, just letting go and learning to enjoy life. It’s not been easy – I was told to expect a 2 year recuperation period and had been suffering from chronic fatigue & recurring infections since my illness, so this really is a miracle to have made it this far! But there is an underlying mission that I need to fulfil, and it’s that which has been driving me forward…it’s the reason why I’m here….it’s the pact I made with the universe, and being a woman of my word, I will deliver! I’m planning to set up a Yoga program in London to help disadvantaged adults, but there’ll be more of that to come in my next blog.
I have a lot to do on my return to London in order to set up my charitable program, and although the real hard work hasn’t even started yet, knowing that I have to, and more importantly, want to get this accomplished is fuelling the fire in my belly. You can rest assured I will be making the most of the well-earned relaxation in Ubud over the next few days!…
