Have you ever read any books by Alexander McCall Smith? I have enjoyed much of his writing and in particular the kindly view he has of people despite all their foibles and weaknesses. I always want to think nicer thoughts after reading one of his books.
Anyway, this weekend I found myself in a situation along with 5 others where each one of us could have been one of the characters out of one of Smiths books. ( read - slightly odd) There we were in the OUCA clubs and societies building for the whole weekend. We had given up one night and 2 days to "master the art of breathing". For those of you who are right now thinking we had come to learn to breathe heavily into a telephone let me put you straight . This is serious self- improvement style breathing!!
Saga from Christchurch had come to teach us. The first thing she made us do, was promise to attend for the whole weekend. I think she could see each of us furiously planning unexpected deaths in the family or some other tragedy about to overtake us. Nodding in agreement wasn't enough. The words had to pass through my lips. " I'll try to come tomorrow." A pen is thrown towards me. "Will you try to pick it up please?" OK point taken " I will come back tomorrow". And you know what? I did come back for the next two days and all in all I can say I'm really glad I did.taking time out of one's own life generally has good results, but learning to be conscious of your breath, your thoughts, your emotions also has positive spin offs. Gaining some distance and perspective allows you to see things a little more clearly or maybe to worry less about the concerns that are ever present. When you focus on breathing you certainly get to be present in the moment and that is much harder than it would seem.
I also liked the way the course did not expect you to sign up for anything else, or necessarily to rush off and follow a particular religion or adopt a dogmatic rigid lifestyle. I could not bear to do that ever again. So yes - it was good. And where before I might have called the group slightly odd I would now say a group of really interesting people who I wouldn't mind saying hello to in the street if I ever met them again.
I can't show you Rosie's parcel this week. I decided you simply would not be interested in seeing packets of gluten free pasta, falafel mix, marshmallow easter eggs and a jar of homemade pickle. No that would be tedious. Instead take a look at some of the photos of the children's garden at our centre. Aren't these lovely? My philosophy has always been that if children are here all day then this is their world. Our job is to make it the best world we possibly can for them to live and learn in.
Here's to a week of many breaths.
Marg
....
