Yogini Under A Palm Tree

I’ve just returned from a whirlwind visit to Fiji and Samoa. A work trip that was supposed to end with three days of nothing except sun, books, a translucent lagoon and some sweet yoga on a mat of springy sea grass.

Except it wasn’t to be. Delayed flights, cancelled flights and a stay in hospital meant the most wonderful fevered discussion with a doctor about the merits of yoga in the heat and yoga with props but very little else on the rest and relaxation list.

Yet what has been more and more evident to me since starting on my yoga journey, all those little snippets of wisdom heard, taught and read, come into their own when you least expect it. My husband, who has yet to be seduced by my winning, calm yogi demeanour, at one point was stroking my arm repeating a breathing mantra. (!) The luck of meeting the doctor from Melbourne doing work experience, adept at distracting me with the story of his own yoga path.

The moments of beauty that strike when you look up and out; the absolute pleasure that comes from touching nature; the different smells; the smiles: the packs of mangy looking dogs that look like they could tear you apart only to roll over with tails thumping the ground when you venture close.

Be present, be in the moment, embrace the now; we hear this all the time. Along with be grateful. We do and we try and it’s hard. At least, I find it hard. And the joy comes when you can look past the crappy moments and take that instance when you breathe in that heavy humidity that paints a lushness all over the Pacific and think, well, ok, there are worse places to be right now.

So the pictures that follow aren’t yoga in the asana sense, they’re more my yoga in the truest sense.

If you’d like to take a look, please know they were all taken on my iPhone (because we’re fancy like that), the same phone I may or may not have dropped in the pool. And, yes, there are a lot of palm trees in Samoa.

– Jane

© The Yoga Connection 2015