Milestones
MINDFUL MOMENTS # 131
Do you know what milestones are? On the A23, coming into Brighton, there is a milestone in the middle of the dual carriageway. Of course, I don’t dally to read it, but it got me thinking about milestones and now I can’t drive by without noticing it. Literally, they were these massive granite slabs telling you how many miles to go, created, I think, by the Romans, to whom we owe most of our roads.
Now, of course, milestones have become their metaphorical equivalents; intangible moments by which we mark the passing of time. Your first word; your first step; your 10th birthday, entering double digits for the first time: all these we celebrate.
I write this today, on my 30th birthday, a quite significant milestone, I think you’ll agree. Once a distant point on the horizon, ‘30’ now sits bold and brave in front of me, heady with anticipation.
I went for a walk along the beach this morning with a friend and, as we drank tea and chatted, I noticed all the pebbles. I noticed them in all their uniqueness, no two pebbles the same. Each one has been shaped uniquely by the passage of time, marked by weather and multiple contacts. Perhaps you can see where I’m going with this: we are like pebbles. Each one, in its own way, a milestone.
You are your own milestone. You are a sign of things to come. You are steadfast and sturdy, but not impermeable to weather and this shows on our skin, in our bodies. You are a sign of everything that has come before; all roads point to this moment.
Mindful moment: However fractious, there is an implicit wholeness to your story. There is beauty in the ugliness, and power in your moments of weakness. You are the embodiment of everything that has come before and everything that will come to pass. But you are also you, in all your uniqueness, a unique pebble on this beautiful beach we call life. Can you feel that? What do your milestones say about who you are, who you used to be and where you are going?
YOGA
Mindful Movement with Laura
Join us every Saturday from 11am-12.15 at the Cornerstone Community Centre in Hove for an all-levels vinyasa yoga flow class, meditation and mindfulness (mats provided or bring your own). £6 per class or £24 for 5.
Upcoming classes:
October 14th, 21st, 28th
REFLECT - “May I never be afraid, especially of myself”
I found this poem in a birthday-poem-hunt (you know, those…) this morning. I love that this poem was written in 1993, exactly 30 years ago. Those first two lines, how powerful…
30th Birthday
BY ALICE NOTLEY
May I never be afraid
especially of myself
but
Muhammed Ali are you telling
the truth?
Well you’re being true aren’t you and
you talk so wonderfully in your body
that protects you with physique of voice
raps within dance
May I never be afraid
rocked and quaked
the mantilla is lace
whose black is oak
But if I’m dark I’m strong
as my own darkness
my strength the universe
whose blackness is air
only starry
lace
But if I’m alive I’m strong
as life
Strong as the violets
in Marlon Brando’s fist
his dissemblance flourished into truth
She
took them
I’d take me too
I do
and my Ali I see you
a hard bright speck of me
the savage formalist
authentic deed of gossip
a kind body
Mindful moment: I can’t pass a birthday without mentioning Taylor Swift and my favourite word, which has stayed with me from one of her early albums: May you be Fearless.
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Welcome to the Community.
I'm Laura, a yoga teacher and NHS doctor. With this weekly newsletter I aim to help you incorporate mindful moments into your week. I want you to feel inspired, empowered and creative. I promise to always be authentic; to only include content that speaks to me and which, therefore, I hope will do the same for you.
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Thank you for reading! Until next time, Laura x