Timing. A post travel reflection.

Today marks the sixth day back in Australia after approximately hundred and thirty five over seas.  Reflection strikes, an unavoidable post travel occurrence most will relate to.   However, I find myself viewing the past travels and the future home life with equal optimism.  Fortunate? Yes, I’d agree.  

This perspective joins me here today, as I sit, type on my laptop and glance to the surrounding walls where pictures of my family hang; a reminder of how close I am to the dearest parts of my life.  Fortunate? Yes. 

Returning to Australia required me moving into a new space; I struck gold it turns out and within a couple of days this house has become a home.  A space to relax, unwind, create and focus on what is most important.  It is simple, clean and surrounded by nature.  The morning light that filters through the bushland and onto the edge of my bed wakes me gently along with the birds that seem to take the sunrise as their cue to sing life into their patch of paradise.  A patch of Aussie coastal hinterland that encourages a sense of connection to a natural way of living. 

Rise with the sun and sleep with the moon. We can work on what happens in-between as we go. 

(Words I scribbled down on the first morning waking up in a new bed.)

Front yard of home. Beautiful.

So, I’ve returned home earlier than expected. Why?  How do I go from touching the Himalayas heavens to a continent near the bottom of the world?  The answer is simple really; yet getting to it took roughly 4 years,135 days and a lot of bending, stretching and being out of breath.   This trip I may have travelled to Philippines, Thailand and India yet I spent most of the time in my head due to spending much time by myself and thanks to yoga I spent even more time in my body, feeling into questions that throughout the practice somehow got answered.  And answered in a way that clarity and confidence are kin and have brought calmness and deep focus to my mind.  

The last four years I have travelled fair bit.  From remote Solomon Island villages to circumnavigating Australia in a bus, sailing the Southern, Tasman and Coral seas extensively, visits to diverse locations in Asia, and traversing all the corners of my mind with meditation, breath training and on occasion, well I’ve tried all the ‘cool’ things the cool kids do.  And it’s all been beneficial, educational and rewarding in some ways.  Yet the most impactful experience has been the exact moment I realised, felt and integrated control over my mind.  I consider this travelling as it was an epic and arduous adventure to find myself in the right space at the right moment with the right people to ‘think right.’   

‘Think right’ - to think to a congruent outcome which brings actions, thoughts and feeling into alignment.  (don’t hold me to this definition as I’m still thinking deeply about it. But for today it will do.)

Like most good learnings this moment for me came from gaining information from integral sources, practicing skills with focused intention and being diligent to stay in an open and in a calm state.  I have been fortunate enough to study diversely in the area of health and wellness over many years.  Recently the joining of ancient knowledge with modern knowledge has been my focus.  What I have experienced daily is that the new has very much been around for a lot longer than modern industry and times.  And as a society we are seeing a re-hashing of ancient knowledge delivered in modalities that fit with the demands and mindsets of society today.   Which is good as knowledge is only powerful in application.  

Sure, we are discovering new aspects of physicality and mindset however much of what is popular today is now just being reaffirmed by science and not really discovered.  It appears that a discovery of modern science is that fact that science itself keeps changing.  The research investigators, inventors and visionary scientists that forge ahead with ego on the sidelines are producing many incredible findings, thats for sure.  I find this very inspiring at the same time hold the view of relying on modern science alone can on occasion be misleading.  A peer reviewed paper doesn’t always stack up and needs to read with discernment at all times.  To be able to look at a topic from as many apposing or alternate perspectives is required these days before making any conclusions.  Here is where traversing through the vast knowledge contained in history has been very helpful.  

Being able to cross reference old practices with new science I have found to be immensely valuable in developing the most effective mindset and movement practices I have ever engaged in.  Maybe I was slow on the uptake, however I feel physicality and knowledge aquisition are equally subject to the effect of time and or timing.  Sometimes I feel my body provides new knowledge and sometimes I feel new knowledge changes my physicality - one thing I am certain on is that the physical and mental are joined at the hip so to speak.  A coupling that if you are playing the game of self improvement, self understanding and physical adaptation is of great advantage to acknowledge and work with.   

My education into various limbs of yoga while in India have affirmed this approach deeply as I continue working on my own performance and congruency. 

By being relatively transient for the last four years, living in different communities and working in different industries I’ve been taken well outside my bubble and placed firmly into what feels like others worlds.  Surrounded by people that think, feel and interact with he world and each other vastly different to how I do.  It has caused me to constantly think about the what, the how, the why, I and others view things the way we do.  This process has been an immensely challenging and a rewarding experience.  I have found to have shifted perspectives on many topics at the same time as strengthen my alignment with things I value most.  This has been the greatest outcome from my travels.

I sit here today in the most empowered, calm and effective state I have ever been in.  Something four years ago I wasn’t sure was achievable.

As I type on my laptop and glance at the photos that hang on my wall I can’t help but feel a calm sense of excitement for what comes next.   

I once was a coach who helped a good many people, a period of life although challenging I cherish deeply.  When I closed Noosa Strength I promised myself I would not coach or put myself in a position of influence on any other till I was living with congruency and had radically levelled up my knowledge and experience with what I believe is valuable for anyone.  

That time has come.  I’ve done the work, I’m doing the work and I’ve climbed the required mountains. 

Thank you for being here,

Leigh