Living Wild – Blog 1 – Stepping into the unknown –
I can't tell you where this blog is going, because it's an adventure still waiting to be written. Of no fixed abode, I one day wake and feel Georgia calling, and I'm already half-way there driving across Belarus and Russia in my van. But it's winter and I've no snow tyres, so I'm turned towards South America, Peru and the Andes – but there are no flights allowed into Peru outside an 8-hour radius, so perhaps I'm going via Brazil. The next day talk has moved on from the British variant to the Brazilian variant, and in Peru they speak of closing the country. It would seem that I've chosen quite a time to begin this odyssey of mindful, poetic vagrancy and wild adventures, and I cannot say what's coming next.
But it is going to involve far flung mountains, meditation, yoga, and hopefully some epic climbing.
It is not the fear of the unknown, nor that of new variants, or unnecessarily complicated travel arrangements that gives me the tingles – it is the knowledge that I am going somewhere that I have never been before; that I am on a personal journey of great spirit, questioning and self-exploration. To learn new skills, to learn to be kind to myself in daily practice of yoga, and to try at being free, whatever that may mean.
I've just done a 21-day yoga challenge, which, to be honest, is the first time I've ever practiced daily for such a long period of time. I can notice fundamental changes in the shape of my spine; my posture is changing and I'm more aware of it as I sit at my desk. I can feel it in my walk, it's taller, and when I stand, I feel taller too. The tendonitis in my arm is greatly reduced and I feel stronger in my legs and more flexible. Having suffered through a shoulder injury for a year and a half, I can see that I neglected all the usual exercise and activity. Without climbing, there didn't seem to be any point to saying in condition. Isn't that mad? It's taken over a year of suffering to gain that perspective of just how obsessed I was.
One of my goals this year is balance – literally I want to be able to balance better :P but more importantly it's the balance of daily life and rhythm. I think the biggest mistake of my twenties was pushing myself too hard. I didn't take long enough to recover and break from sport, I wrote obsessively, and I pushed too far on many a night out. Cultivating true mindfulness for every task, from the waking moment to the close of the eyes at the end of the day – this is my new mission; I am relearning what it means to really be in myself, to give myself breaks and time to just be. I want to thank Live Wild for already pushing me in a new direction, and I'm quietly thrilled about having the opportunity to practice mindfulness, and for the chance to apply that to new connections in new places.
I'd like to start the year, and this blog, by inviting you to pursue your own 21-day yoga challenge. I've followed Emily Ruth's free 15minute a day program on YouTube (and I'm hoping to meet her soon). I can recommend Emily Ruth Yoga, but anyway you want to take it on, you find your own way. Use a piece of paper, a journal, a calendar, however you want to mark it, and if you'd like to share here in the comments too that would be great!
I hope in this troubled time you can find your own way through, get out there as much as you can to enjoy doing the things you love, and that I'll see you all soon, friends and family I've missed, and new people welcome to share in our adventures. Many well wishes and happy returns, Louis.