Saturday 19 November 2016

LIFTS

Lifts are interesting things.    Love in an elevator, but then I see Trump and Farage in a golden lift and it takes on new meaning.    There was Roald Dahl, the Great Glass Elevator that knew no boundaries and had no boundaries, it was made of glass, but got Charlie and co in to trouble.    I remember the drawing in that book where the monsters were in lifts and with their bodies (you've got to read the book) marked out the words 'SCRAM.   There was that film where the devil was inside the elevator and they were trapped.  Evelator to hell, they seem to go up or down.  You get stuck in them. They are claustrophobic. No one speaks.  They can have sex (Fatal Attraction) or just flirt (New Years Eve), or get killed (Dressed to Kill), in one.    Confined spaces make people horny or suicidal.    Or in the case of Trump and Farage, you wish going down all the way.  Just making sure they do not take the rest of us with them.


Wednesday 9 November 2016

TAKE A DEEP BREATH IN

What a year.    Anything could happen and it has!!!

I was at World Travel Market last week, where all the countries and peoples of the world were on a central stage all under the same roof and although there was a lot of noise, they got on.  Or seemed to get on.   I spent the morning in the Inspire Theatre, listening to people talk about the wellness tourism, and how it has grown incredibly, outstripping any other form of travel.   This is mainly happening, as some of the 'experts' mentioned because people, for want of a better phrase 'mentally exhausted, and sick'.   Yoga has led the way, a system which moves people to a place of calm (emotionally) to listen to their breath, and clear their mind of the internal dialogue that persists in creating imbalance.  Thats the idea.  Yoga itself has become a form of exercise when it is a meditation.   Kick boxing yoga, pilates yoga, spinning yoga?   Yer what?    Any way, I digress, because I taught yoga this morning, and my usual class of 6 turned into 26 because of the US elections and worry about the world.   We did twenty vinyasas, saluted the sun and stretched and twisted.  Thats all the posturing you need. Forget the political posturing which does you no good at all.

Don't worry, be happy.   Politics like the financial markets is foogazzy.  Guess work.   What really matters is that you are there for your children and you love them unconditionally.  I teach yoga in schools.   I know that's what matters.   Thats it. And you are in good health.  That's it.   Simple really.    Everything else is puff.

And everyone is going on about the 'elite'. I must admit, I have never met someone who is 'elite'.  I've met people who think they are.   Everyone talks about the 'elite' as though they are a 'race'.   The 'elite' is not a type of person. It is a social construct. People may feel they are better than someone else, but they are the ones who are insecure and feel less than everyone else.   Elitism is pomposity.  Pomposity is like a balloon. It is meant to be popped.

And I'm taking part in research to see how I cope with stress, my cortisol levels are being checked to see how my brain copes with everything.   I went to a fascinating talk by Tara Swart today @corinthiahotellondon at the Corinthia Hotel in London.  She will be the neuroscientist in residence there for a year and helping out with brain power day spa packages and brain power residential packages on how make the most of your brain.   And yes, yoga is part of it.

Take a deep breath in, close your eyes, listen to your breath and realise what is important.  Your health and your children.   And breathe out.

Wednesday 2 November 2016

THE HEIGHT OF UN-WELLNESS

Did a BBC Radio Interview today and as per usual in November I loose my voice. Change in season, I always use to blame the dry air and continual shouting of the experience that is World Travel Market, but this has happened before WTM, so perhaps I'll explain it on a course I went on at the weekend.    Visited Greenwich. Lovely place and the Cutty Sark.  A ship I visited last when I was ten.   I like Greenwich village. It has a bohemian edge which Richmond has lost.  

The radio interview was about Stress Awareness Day.  I chatted in my husky voice which occasionally verged on Minnie Mouse about stress in the work place and how they are offering employees ways to deal with stress. Surely the best way to deal with stress is to change the working systems, change the management and identify that the people who work in the business aren't hard, tough, sociopathic enough to deal with what is expected of them.   It would make things much easier.

Of course, there are things you can't change.   The people around you may cause you stress.  Family and friends who cause you stress should be deleted.  It is possible and yes you might feel lonely initially but it is amazing how quickly white space makes you appreciate those you really miss, and those who were just, well, filling space.

So tomorrow yoga-ing all day and to radio show and then to a meeting and full day on Friday. Hope the voice will hold out. Radio is a bit of a bummer without a voice.

 As for how to deal with stress, and basic unwellness - I go for sleep. Sleep should be made statutory in the afternoon for two hours - 2 - 4.  That would deal with stress.   We don't need a day to make us aware of it.