Riding Out The Tsunami

FACING THE WAVE...

I remember when I first started this current job - there was someone I worked with who ironically, I now believe, was facing very similar issues to those which I find myself dealing with now. There are other parallels that are quite interesting too, regarding health and proposed path for change - and so I will contact her and see how she's managed after facing her wave.

To recap from yesterday when I had the tidal wave dream. Usually, my dreams are very random and I don't even try to interpret them - but as this one was so vivid and strong in my mind, I had to look it up. It's a pretty strong metaphor and essentially means facing up to making a change - and the fact this dream came the day before going back to my 9-5, it appears to have a very clear message - one which I intend to adhere to.

If you've read my previous posts, you'd notice that I've gone through a few films in the last few days that address matters of the heart, wisdom and the latest one - what it means to be happy. These aren't my usual film choices but looking at the topic of change, the research has steered me towards looking at how others have dealt with change for the good. Everyone should watch these films to see what it really takes to be a better person - and when you see what some have had to go through...

So this film 'Happy' takes a look at different cultures around the world and highlights that happiness cannot be found through consumerism, image or status. It not only measures typically financially poor but happy folks from countries like India and South America against the commercially corrupt people from the cash-rich nations of USA and Japan - plus also looks at those that have had serious misfortune and still been able to right themselves on a path of happiness. The director won an award for his last film 'Ghengis Blues' - which I'll try and get for this week too.

Another film I intend to watch is called 'Tim's Vermeer' - and I'm also going to read 'Flow'.

Here's one thing I've learned – I made myself ill in my 20's by working long stressful hours - and I won't ever let myself get to the point of Karoshi.

Back To Health
One last positive thing on yesterday's yoga experience...The Good Vibes studio is great, but what's really got me into yoga are the teachers that take our yoga classes at Fitness First - Graham and Geraldine. The classes for me, have been the right balance of physical challenge and learning the movements and flow of (in this case) dynamic yoga. Although these guys take classes at Fitness First, they are from a yoga studio called The Radiant Hand in Tooting. After reading through their biogs, I'm interested to speak with them more about taking up a more spiritual approach to yoga practice - and even contemplating doing a retreat. Another thing that struck me, was that both these guys had taken up yoga to fix debilitating ailments, and when you consider that Geraldine has come from a professional and traditional background when she chose yoga to heal herself, it's got to mean something, right? And so this will spur me on to do even more. I'll take the time to speak with her on Wednesday about her healing progress...