Have you ever wondered, perhaps in the wee hours of the morning, what your purpose is in life? This happened to me recently, after I returned from my second instalment of the 300-hour yoga teachers’ training in San Francisco. I was training with Jason Crandell, one of my favourite teachers, who urged us to understand the human body and to think about, then define the ‘purpose’ we want to achieve when creating a sequence of asanas. It got me thinking about my own purpose in life?

I’m sure that you too have, at some point, contemplated the meaning of life asking yourself “Why am I here?” or “What’s the reason behind me being in this world?” I have to tell you, it can be quite daunting. However, over time, I have found that it’s important not to put pressure into finding solutions, because answers to such questions come in their own time.

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Have you ever found yourself in a room full of people or at a party, yet felt lonely; I have, on many an occasion.

 Recently I read a BBC news article which surprised me; in short, recent research shows that young adults are more likely to feel lonely than older age groups.

 The research found that almost 10% of people aged 16 to 24 were “always or often” lonely – the highest proportion of any age group and more than three times higher than people aged 65 and over. I was surprised because my perception was the opposite. Young people are always “connected” and communicating with others whereas older people often have long bouts of solitude.

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Growing up in a family of nine kids, I always felt that I had to work on getting my share of love and attention from my parents. Don’t get me wrong, they did their best to be fair and did a great job raising us, but I always felt that I was just another one of the nine kids… I felt that I needed to differentiate myself by working hard at school, following the rules and being the “good one”.

As I grew up and had relationships, I went through the same motions of trying to work hard for the love I “deserved”. Sadly, the harder I tried, the less fruitful the relationship; with my heart being broken far too often.

Essentially there was this void I desperately wanted to fill.

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“I vow now to develop mindful attention in this body, heart and mind for my own and others’ benefit.”

Just a few more sleeps and it’s 2018! Where did the time go?!

Early this year I was finalizing the education and certifications I planned to do in 2017. So far, I was able to fulfill 5 major training’s that I set myself to do in order to be a better teacher and better person in general (wink, wink). One of the highlights so far was the 10-Day Insight Yoga Level 1 training in Hong Kong with Sarah Powers – my Yin Yoga mother and the one who actually named Yin Yoga as Yin Yoga!

It was my first time in Hong Kong but as usual, I travel not to sight-see but to train with teachers I have been following (or stalking) my entire yoga life. After spending time and learning from her, I am already looking forward to the Level 2 training in May 2018!

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Embracing Diversity

We are all one is a spiritual truth we are told as yogis, but to see the end of inequality in society we need to embrace what makes us different.

We live in a world where billions of people exist together and have the advantage of technology to be connected and learn anything they want by the click of a button. The diversity of religion, race, gender, culture are things that are bound to be different from person to person. Now is the time to embrace this diversity.

Rather than embrace, it seems that many people in the world see diversity as a reason to divide. This is not a political statement; it is simply recognition that we need and can do better. We don’t have to focus on nations far from us (and there are plenty of negative examples!) rather, we should start within our own community. We need to recognise that each of us is unique and amazing, and the collective human experience is richer for the difference we bring.

So how do we get there?

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