At the end of July, I joined my favourite Yogini Uma Dinsmore Tuli for an online retreat. Having a weekend of group practice was a real blessing. I still remember the beginning of lockdown, and how online classes and workshops were slowly normalised. Great, I thought, I will do so much more yoga classes when I don't have to worry about transportation, it will probably be cheaper, how great. So convenient, I thought. Of course, the reality was different. Finding time for a class or workshop away from home is one thing, fitting a class or a workshop into the every day home existence provides plenty of challenges on itself. Plus there are the issues with noise, people, pets, broadband... Home study isn't always what I thought it could be. And with a well established daily practice fitted around my needs, the motivation was lower than I'd expected.
But there were some nice classes, nevertheless. Not as many as I'd imagined, but enough to appreciate the option. And with Uma travelling a lot, it is nice to know that she is reachable. When her workshop about menopause was announced, and fell right onto the first weekend of summer holidays, I have decided to go for it. If it were in winter, I would struggle with the late evening practice. During summer and especially right after school had ended, dear child wasn't very demanding and could be left to her own devices for a while. So what that we all went to bed later, it's holiday! (It's really interesting how every little thing a woman of the house does effects the running of the all household.)
I have a daily practice which evolves and changes. I study yoga and consider myself a life-long student, practitioner and teacher. I wouldn't live a good life if yoga weren't part of it. And I had learnt a while ago that self-study and self-practice is my favourite way of doing yoga. I have zero need for regular classes. I used to enjoy them, but they are not for me anymore. The time and money can't be found. I invest in books and the occasional, carefully chosen workshop or course that goes with what interests me right now. I avoid too many teachers and contacts online. There is simply an overload of options. Instagram alone can swallow a half of a day just looking at what and how can be done. I have very little interest in sharing much about my daily practice and progress. I probably should try it, but seeing how hopeless I am with self-promotion, I don't even dream about it.
Being therefore in the company of a great teacher and some fellow yoginis is a special treat. Something like a mini holiday, that lasts three days and only takes a few hours of each of the days. But the energy kick I got from that mini-holiday is immense. I can still feel it today. It shows me that I am not alone in a stage of life that is about changes. They are only very slowly starting to announce their future arrival, but they will come. And I will be ready.
As usually with Uma, her approach is inclusive, her techniques simple and the practice flows easily. When the course was ending, I wanted to stay longer, enjoy the lovely company, talk more. It doesn't happen with many gatherings - real or online. Her workshop reminded me to look up what her masterpiece - Yoni Shakti has to offer.
Yoni Shakti is a big book about yoga and women's place in the world of yoga. It is a life long companion for a yogini, because it covers different stages of life and its cycles. And I could easily identify some core practices from the workshop, some slightly changed, because Uma's practice and teaching evolves, too. Of course, attending a course with a special theme is always better than simply putting things together from a book. But it is great to know that a lot of wisdom is readily available on my bookshelf. My yoga bookshelf has volumes that were read, volumes that are to be read and volumes that are consulted repeatedly. Yoni Shakti is the one with most bookmarks and sticky notes in it. Only a keen interest in chakras had taken me away from it in the last year or so.
Going through it, I have concluded that I might as well start reading it again. Or focus on some parts. No, lets do it properly. If only I had more reading time! And as I was busy reconnecting with this book, news on Instagram had reached me that the book is now out of print and that there are some legal issues surrounding it. Oh well, women power can't be tolerated for too long, can it? It had made me only more grateful for having met Uma so many moons ago.
In between then and now I have visited London and saw the Feminine Power exhibition in the British Museum. It had made a connection with that magical weekend in my heart. Seeing the long history of us all, I am glad that we can celebrate the feminine power, however much pressure it brings on later...
As the summer of 2022 draws to a close, I am very content. This was a lovely, Shakti powered Summer.
