The Surf Yogini

Around 2am I was vomiting, which at the time I couldn't deduce whether was because of stress bought on by grief, or just a bug I'd inherited. 
Waking up a few hours later, weary and with that cotton wool head you tend to get after a restless nights sleep, I blundered through my day like a newborn baby deer. 

That was until I did three things. 

I took a duvet day, I meditated and I began reading eat, pray love by Elizabeth Gilbert. 

I'm not sure about you but I don't do stillness. I find it almost impossible. Wreaked with illness I will still work out or walk the dog, I can only manage two hours max of watching television/reading (if that) and sitting doing nothing is comparable to shutting my fingers in the door - impractical and unnecessary. 

Except stillness is completely necessary. 

How are you supposed to hear or feel anything if your not able to stop and listen? 
Imagine we are like a TV antennae, to pick up a signal it is necessary for us to stop stationary in one place long enough to catch something. 

To stop fidgeting I meditate. 

Today I chose to finally do a visualization meditation for healing which my good friend Jemima has been raving about. Her exuberance for the fifteen minute tutorial was well founded, I dreamily transcended through layer after layer of consciousness until I was able to walk around in a place of complete sanctuary. I came back to myself feeling lightness and strength. 

I love hippie dippie stuff. I know to the novice it sounds weird, or a bit far out but there's a reason Buddhists are always smiling. Meditation helps you silence the inertia of destructive thought processes and with it the ability to accept samsara (suffereing) as an inevitable part of life. 

Samsara is Nirvana. 

- Which basically means no pain, no gain. If you accept that happiness is fleeting and suffering is a much a part of life as oxygen is, your far more likely to be receptive enough to accept happiness when you are actually blessed with it. 

Now I know I'm about eight years behind the hype but I finally picked up a copy of Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Unfortunately I'm one of those terrible people who see the film before reading the book, but I knew I loved the Julia Roberts movie so discovering the book feels like a spiritual endeavor. 

I love her warmth and the candor of her words, this is a woman not afraid to explore her self indulgent tendencies (which we all have) or her vulnerabilities. Its making me think about my impending trip to South Africa, how much of a whim it was deciding to go. It's also making me think long and hard about where I want to study. I got into two Universities literally opposite ends of the country. 

One means seaside living, surfing and a course of my dreams. 
The second is town life, world wide placements and the man of my dreams. 

I think I'm going to need a lot of prayer and love to figure this one out...

I'll keep you posted. 

Beautiful things I saw. 

      

































Until next time, 

Stay strong, Surf well 
Love