Metamorphosis

In light of the Metamorphosis workshop 2 days ago at YogaRelax I was contemplating the profound experience for myself and the attendees. It was a celebration of the beginning of Diwali a Hindu festival, which means festival of Light and I celebrate every year with a workshop. It celebrates the victory of good over "evil", or as I described the good over hardships, the hope over despair, the positive over the negative. in Metamorphosis, how the year has transformed, the evil, being the challenges you have over come to be a shining beacon in your life.

there's no getting away from it, Life sometimes or maybe a lot does challenge us, yet its in those challenges that we evolve, learn, reconnect with our light. In the Metamorphosis workshop I invited all the ladies to contemplate how their year, their life, how they had transformed?

this word transform in sanskrit is Parinama. I recently read someone translating it as "folding within to offer out" I found this beautiful. My contemplation  that to truly transform, to see a change or to see metamorphosis or to step into the light you need to turn inwards, sit with it, like in meditation, or reflection or contemplation or a moving meditation of vinyasa yoga like I teach, then as you rest into it, you evolve and it transforms into an offering from the inside out….is that not wonderful?!

It reinforces my intention at Diwali and any of my other ritualised practices to fill the outer and inner "home" with light… I teach to turn in to the temple of your body. Diwali is an opportunity to truly light up your inner altar in the temple of your body so that vibrationally the outer manifest ions mirror this...

for me this unfolding from within, the parinama at you temple altar summed up my other invitation to the ladies ~ to make beauty with their body from the lotus of their heart…we did a meditations, comtemplations on this to help turn innards for the answers so they revealed in the practice the deeper intent...

the celebration of Diwali is honouring the deities Ganesha and Lakshmi, we invoke Ganesh at the beginning for he represents the removal of obstacles, the lord of new beginnings so the transformation occurs, and Lakshmi is the goddess of beauty, auspiciousness, wealth, fertility and love. As we invoked (another blog about that soon) Ganesh, his representation clears the path for the goddess Lakshmi to come forth, and the secret with the goddesses as I told in my stories, is she remains hidden unless you invite her in…. so the invitation to make beauty externally in their asanas allowed each women to come into her radiance, the wealth of her innate beauty and  bring it to birth, for me allowed them to connect deeply with their Lakshmi within….

It was an honour to witness the parinama…

Aum Shrim Maha Lakshmiyae Namaha

here's what some women wrote about the workshop

"Amazing yoga workshop today. Absolutely loved it.  Music, candlelight, lots of heart openers, insights.. it all really appealed to me...A wonderful, insightful, heart opening workshop.  A beautiful way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  I am grateful for your dynamic yoga practice and the time to reflect.  After a twin pregnancy and early motherhood my body has often not felt my own; your yoga practice has challenged, inspired and helped me start to feel myself return.  Thanks as always and Namaste x" ~ Lisa

"Absolutely Loved it too. Perfect way to start to slow down to get ready for labour. I think it was the best one ever! thanks a million x" ~ Margherita


"Thank you Michelle for a sublime way to spend a Sunday afternoon, particularly as dusk descended and the light of the candles grew brighter at the perfect time for introspection!
Such a complement to last January’s workshop where we set our sankalpa – so timely to contemplate any progress made [or not!] during the year. My appetite is truly whetted for January’s all day workshop and really looking forward to delving and diving deeper [in every sense!] x" ~ Jan