frondyoga

New Beginnings

We’ve recently had all the remaining old pine monoculture cleared from our land. It’s been a long time in the planning, and a pretty momentous time for us. The pine was planted around 40 years ago as a crop, as it was on much of the land in the wider valley, and it was ripeContinueContinue reading “New Beginnings”

Deep Peace of the Water Mine

These past few weeks I’ve been sitting by our water mine every day, as a form of meditative practice. A water mine is like a horizontal well chiselled out of the bedrock a long time ago, often with a steeply sloping path down to its entrance. They are common in this part of Portugal asContinueContinue reading “Deep Peace of the Water Mine”

A voice for nature

Nature speaks through me. She whispers to all of us who have ears to listen. When I walk through the woods she comes through me as ancient songs, arising from the bones of the Earth. When I tend the garden she imparts jewels of wisdom, always reminding me to trust the natural unfolding of life;ContinueContinue reading “A voice for nature”

The wisdom of soil

Today I’ve been turning the compost piles and potting up baby cypress seedlings gifted to us by a friend, feeling calmed and soothed by my hands being in the soil, present with nature’s wisdom of endless renewal. Things come into being and exist for a while then, when it’s their time, they die, nature compostsContinueContinue reading “The wisdom of soil”

Nature’s way

I recently completed a seven day detox – the first one I’ve ever done properly. Previously I’ve had a lot of resistance, as I do love food so much. Anyway, it was intense but fruitful (literally!). Of course, we aren’t just detoxing the body when we undergo such a thing, but all layers of ourselvesContinueContinue reading “Nature’s way”

Mother earth

I don’t have children. I was, briefly, a mother to an unborn child once, but that’s another story, a bedrock-shaking one which is woven into the fabric of my bones and which, on the other side of, I am an entirely different person. Since that pivotal time of my life I’ve been on a hugeContinueContinue reading “Mother earth”

Community Power

This post is a celebration of both the land that I live on and the amazing beings who I am blessed to live here amongst. I live in a beautiful, secluded shallow valley of woodland and pasture on top of a mountain plateau, with a clear, bubbling stream running along its length at the centre.ContinueContinue reading “Community Power”

Vipassana Magic

I recently completed my second 10-day silent vipassana meditation retreat, whereby you sit on the floor and meditate for around 10 hours a day, starting at 4:30am and finishing at 9:30pm. During this time you’re not permitted to speak or have eye-contact or any other kind of interaction with any of the other students, althoughContinueContinue reading “Vipassana Magic”

Healing Waters

I recently attended the first embodiment training that I have done for a very long time indeed – ‘Living Body Enquiry’ with Carole Burstein. I used to be a training junkie, jumping from course to course, snatching the treasure I could from each one, before hopping to the next one. I spent all my moneyContinueContinue reading “Healing Waters”

An elder speaks

Today I came across a piece of writing that came through me a while back, and seemed to come from an ancient voice within, an inner elder. I believe we are multi-dimensional beings and, the more we clear our energetic blockages by releasing old trauma held in the body and re-programming our minds to letContinueContinue reading “An elder speaks”