Let the Yoga Challenge Begin

I have psyched myself up, gotten some support (not too late to still sponsor me) and have drunk my last cup of coffee. A few years ago I did a 30-day detox program and it was recommended that you see the programme as a gift to yourself. I started it a month before my birthday so that I could finish on the big day. I felt fantastic - it did feel like I had given myself a huge gift.

Anyway I have decided to see this yoga challenge as my time out, a detox, a present to myself and to six children who need a home.

So if you want to do likewise, a word or two about the detox: The benefit of doing a detox for longer than thirty days is that you are more likely to carry on with it (it takes about 3 weeks to learn a new habit). We pack so much junk into our bodies that it is always good to have a little time out even if we don’t carry on with it afterwards.

So here are some tips I have picked up along the way:

·         Drink lots of water – our water is amongst the best in the world, so open the tap and fill up.

·         Eliminate tea and coffee – replace with herbal teas, fresh juices, hot water with lemon (I add ginger, lavender, mint, a cinnamon stick – whatever is around – to make a fusion in a jug and sip from it all day).

·         Eat lots of fresh fruit and vegetables – soup and fruit salads are great. Now may be a good time to sign up for that organic veggie box (hint, hint)

·         Cut out meat, especially red meat. If you must, eat skinless chicken. Fish is fine.

·         Cut out wheat and wheat products.

·         Replace dairy with alternative products (goat’s milk, soya, etc)

·         To supplement the detox, Epsom salts baths are great every few days. A real treat would be a massage to get the circulation going, and to flush out all those toxins.

And then yoga, yoga, yoga - all the breathing, exercise and relaxation is perfect for detox-ing. Then visualise all those toxins leaving the body. I dare you to feel wonderful!

Now I feel like I should put a health warning on this blog. “Consult your doctor before starting this program!”

LISTEN TO YOUR BODY AND PRACTISE AHIMSA

Yoga Lent

It's one week before "Yoga Lent", as my daughter has dubbed it after hearing that Melissa was giving up chocolate. During class this morning I did wonder what I was letting myself in for. I wondered how my body would be feeling after 30 days of moving from warrior poses to balancing like dancers, and from aeroplane to triangle poses. But then we relaxed into corpse pose and all the endorphins went whizzing around my body. I sighed as I settled into that happy space that comes at the end of a yoga class. 

So just in case it is sounding like I will be having too much pleasure, I have decided that I am giving up coffee for Yoga Lent. I don't drink a lot of coffee but it is a small pleasure that I indulge in. I have become quite the "coffee  snob" and will rather stay without it than drink a cup that is not up to standard. I also like the image of me sitting in coffee shops with my laptop or notebook (in the old-fashioned sense of the word), being creative. I will have to replace the flat whites with a pot of Rooibos for August.  

So now there is no going back. Will keep you posted about my caffeine-free journey to centred, serene togetherness!

Yoga Challenge: feeling good, doing good

I have committed to a 30 day Yoga Challenge. Starting 1 August,  I will be doing yoga everyday for 30 days.  I need to find 30 people who will each sponsor me R100 so that at the end of it I will have raised R3 000 for a project called Home from Home. The aim is to get 30 people to do the challenge and to raise R90 000 towards the project. This will be enough to  care for a family of six children in a community-based foster home for a year. Home from Home has 21 such homes and this will be for number 22! 

The challenge is the bright idea of friends Melissa Brake, the owner of YogaWay Studio, and Pippa Shaper, the  Managing Trustee of Home from Home.

Initially, the idea was rather daunting (will I have enough time, where will I get 30 sponsors...), but the more I thought about it (and the more Melissa twisted my arm), the more attractive it became. I am picturing my new centred, together self at the end of August serenely handing over the money - how's that for a win-win situation - feeling good and doing good. And there will be 29 other centred, together people serenely doing the same. Hey! Imagine if more people did this.... we'll all be feeling good, doing good...or you could just sponsor me, please!

Pippa and Melissa in the YogaWay Studio

Cinnamon City

Morocco...Marrakech...Casablanca...the very words conjure up exotic smells of spices, visions of Arabian nights and belly dancers, mosaics, arched buildings and sounds of fountains tinkling in courtyards...Cinnamon City evoked all of that before I even opened the book. In fact I think that the cover of the book with its blue and white bowl of lemons set against a cinnamon-coloured sunset over a Middle Eastern skyscape is what attracted me in the first place. I was sold as soon as I opened the front cover to reveal the deep blue inside jacket.

The book is by Miranda Innes who seems to have a penchant for travelling to exotic places, buying property and living there. On a visit to a friend in Marrakech, she and her partner find themselves (unintentionally) buying up a riad with plans to convert it to a small hotel. 

What follows is an account of their adventure to restore the house to its former glory with the help of some very colourful local characters. In spite of going from one crisis to another, they fall under the spell of the city “where passionate music, magic potions and the drama of Africa are cooled by the intuitive genius of Arabic culture.”

I loved her descriptions of the challenges they encountered and the behind-the-scenes view of the old city. I could almost hear the calls of the muezzin. She has a gift with words that places the reader right there within the pink walls, in the mosaic-tiled courtyards and on rooftops, lolling about on cushions listening to haunting music. I could imagine searching for bargains in the souks - everything from jewellery to spices to leather goods, all business done over a glass of mint tea.

Look up Riad Maizie for more. It definitely looks like it should go on my to-do list. 

A very interesting fact that I learned, is that the world’s first university was started by a woman in 859 in Morocco – Al Qarawiyin by Fatima bint Mohammed ben Fehri.


Cinnamon City by Miranda Innes is published by Bantam Press.
Also, by the same author: Getting to Manana published by Transworld Publishers

A Traveling Rite of Passage

As I write this my daughter is on a bus to the Eastern Cape on a school trip and my son is flying back from Sweden, where he has been on holiday on his own, for the last two weeks. Just over a year ago, I was on the back of an elephant in the jungle of the Golden Triangle, in the north of Thailand when it occurred to me that family holidays as we knew them were coming to an end. My daughter had been reluctant to come away with us then. She had been on exchange to Canada earlier that year and had a taste for hitting out on her own. My son was bemoaning the fact that there would probably not be anyone his age on that holiday. All in all, though, it turned out to be a great holiday. Besides the elephant trekking, we visited the Tiger Temple, and all got our PADI open-water diving licences.

And so here we are with them taking turns to leave the nest and giving me the opportunity to bond with one and then the other (or so I thought).  While my daughter has her exchange to Canada and her service trip to Thailand behind her, it is the first time that my son has been so far away from home by himself, for this length of time.  I think in many ways this trip has been a rite of passage for him. He has changed so much physically and emotionally over the past year, that it feels appropriate that we should mark it somehow.

He had to deal with the disappointment of not leaving as planned when we arrived at the check-in counter to discover that the UK visa he had would not allow him to travel without one of his parents, even though he would only be in transit. There was nothing for us to do but return home with the hope that we would be able to make a plan in the morning. He put on a brave face but I could see the disappointment.  

Thankfully we managed to get him onto another flight via Amsterdam the next night (and he didn't need a visa to use their airport!). As it happened, it did work out for the best (as mother said it would) as the KLM flight was more convenient.

By all accounts he seems to have had a wonderful time. It is hard to tell how much he has missed us since his communication is limited to one word, and at times one letter: ‘Y’ (why) or ‘K’ (okay). Our children have been travelling since they were babies and I believe that after every trip they have grown from the stimulation, the exposure to different cultures and the opportunity to leave home comforts and deal with change. I am hoping for a more detailed account and eager to see what difference this trip has made.

The Golden Rule

I am saddened and a little troubled by the recent suicide of someone we knew. While we were not close friends, our families have many connections through school, university and business. We also live in the same neighbourhood, a few roads from each other. I am disturbed by the fact that we could be connected to each other, live alongside each other and yet not be able to pick up the deep distress that would lead someone to take their own life.

There are always so many questions for the people left behind and always some guilt about whether we could have done something to help prevent the death. So many people attended the funeral service, which made me wonder why he could not find at least one of us to talk to. 

Technology has made us so available to each other all the time, and yet are we really connected to each other?  We actually don’t even need to talk to each other – we SMS, BBM, send emails from our phones and have information at our fingertips. We need to engage with each other with more than social media, to connect on a personal level. We all have a need to belong to a group, whether it is a family bond, or a group of people with a common purpose or a spiritual group like a church. We need to learn to live with one another, to care for each other and be cared for.

In her book, Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life, Karen Armstrong asserts that compassion is a true test of spirituality. We are urged to have concern for everyone, “to treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself”. Compassion is common to all faiths. All religions have their own version of The Golden Rule. 

“As we develop our compassionate mind, we should feel an increasing sense of responsibility for the suffering of others and form a resolve to do everything we can to free them from their pain”, she says.

I think tragic events occur to help put us on the right path. Let’s take time to connect, to take responsibility for each other, to care.

Read more about Karen Armstrong by clicking here Charter for Compassion
Contact The South African Depression and Anxiety Group for mental health information and resources.

A "Typical" South African - a sense of belonging

My son ended the school term on a high since the house that he belongs to at school won the singing competition. The house system is an integral part of the set up of the school. Everything the boys do reflect on their house – earning merits or demerits accordingly. It is not something that I am familiar with. The houses which we belonged to for sport when I was at school, don’t come close to this. There is a  sense of pride and belonging that is being engendered here. If you have seen any of the Harry Potter movies, you will have an idea of what I am talking about.

I have been observing this with interest since I have been exploring the concept of tribalism and the innate need we have to belong. From the minute we are born we are received into a family, a community and a country with certain belief systems, customs and culture and language. It makes us feel safe, encourages us to be loyal and to take pride in the group. It gives us a sense of belonging.

At a later stage we then learn to move away and become independent, maybe questioning what we were taught, exploring new avenues. This concept of belonging to a tribe can have both positive and negative connotations. I find this fascinating in a country like South Africa where we have such a fragmented national tribe as a result of the divisions of apartheid. So many times I have been asked to describe a typical South African and I battle with the answer. What is a “typical” South African?

I think that we came closest to the concept of a South African tribe during the soccer world cup, when we waved our flags, sang the anthem and stood behind our national team. I have started to think about what makes us uniquely South African.

• We have fought for basic human rights for all people to be treated with respect and dignity.
• When someone dies, we turn up to support the family left behind.
• We greet our neighbours in the street.
• When someone needs it we make soup or cookies and take it around.
• We recognise that we are all one and that we need to work to make it true.
• We are proud of our natural heritage, our parks and our animals.
• We know that all God’s beaches are for all God’s children.
• When we sing the national anthem we are reminded of the struggle and compromise that brought us democracy and peace.
• We know who our heroes are.
• We are a colourful people.
•  We sing, we dance, and we laugh at ourselves.
• We soak up the sun and welcome the rain.
• We create beautiful art works.
• We are sporty and love the outdoors.
• We look after each other’s children when we need to.
• We are not afraid to howl at the government when they do something wrong.
• We know how important education is.
• We fight for good health care for all.
• We look after our old people and listen to their stories.
• We love good food.
• We have a firm handshake.

 This list needs some work and is open to suggestion.  

Give this wedding a miss!

Last night I went off to the movies with my daughter and a friend for a much-anticipated “chick-flick”. I was not expecting anything cerebral, just a light-hearted, feel-good movie to relax by – something pink and fluffy, as my daughter calls it. The reviews for Bridesmaids were good enough and I specifically remember reading one which said: “like The Hangover without the vulgarity”. Fine with me. I had seen The Hangover and had no desire to see a sequel of the vulgarity.

The movie was sold out except for some single seats which we decided to take...promising. The popcorn queue snaked around the escalator. We decided we didn’t need any and headed straight for our seats, ready to be entertained. Well, I am sorry to say that I was duped into seeing the female version of The Hangover. The opening scenes of the movies were not promising at all. We were subjected to a couple who looked like they were trying to have sex but were still working out which was the right way to go about it.

There is one particular scene in the movie, where after eating some bad Mexican food the bridesmaids head out to a bridal studio to try on dresses. They all start getting sick and what ensued was what I suppose was meant to be funny – one bathroom and five women falling over each other to get rid of lunch from both ends. Maybe I am  missing a funny bone, but most women don’t carry on like that.

There were some funny moments but not enough to redeem the movie. There is so much reality TV out there these days where everyone tries to behave as shockingly as they can. Perhaps the movie-makers feel pressure to up the shock value.

We came home and watched a recording of Modern Family – for a brain-cleanser, as my daughter said - much like you have sorbet between courses to cleanse the palate. I feel like hunting down the reviewer and shooting him. Actually, what did I expect, relying on a man’s review of a chick-flick?