Walking in an Inner Wonderland

Walking in an Inner Wonderland

Inner World - S Jaswant

Dear <>
I am surrounded by folks telling me they feel overwhelmingly tired here in London.  It’s no surprise - even though the autumn has been unusually warm, we now have less time to soak up the sun’s rays.  Yet in an urban environment, the production line carries on, insisting that all continue to output at the same level.  We wrap our bodies in extra layers, yet can miss the summons to stoke our inner fires.  Whatever season we are in, it is essential we nourish our inner worlds so that we can remain connected to our natural, creative impulses and re-energise our sense of enchantment with the wonder of life.

Walking For Wonder
All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking - Friedrich Nietszche
That old chestnut of a song, Winter Wonderland, contains some wisdom- to make life a wonderland we need to go for inner and outer walks. A pharmacist once told me that 20 minutes sunlight on our hands and faces gives us the daily sun vitamins we need - so walking can be truly revitalising. It also gives us time to walk through the talk in our heads - to turn over ideas about projects, ruminate on our relationships and simply let our thoughts wander. Walking feeds us with inspiring sights and sounds - from the dancing smile of a laughing child, the rugged face of a local tramp or the wind whistling through shivering leaves.  Like all forms of movement, walking charges up our inner spark, reigniting our energies and reconnecting us with our natural rhythms.

I’m looking forward to stoking the inner fires with graceful, generous yoga teacher Ciara Jean Roberts at a special Winter Warmer workshop - Phoenix Rising please do join us this Sunday for a heartwarming sing and stretch.

Making the Impossible Possible
“Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” - The White Queen, Alice Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
Our inner worlds can sometimes seem at odds with our external circumstances. We may find ourselves pushing to fulfil conditioned expectations or social obligations while inwardly longing to sit and dream by the fire.  Creativity bridges the gap between our inner and outer world, inviting us to walk through the wonderland of the impossible before making it outwardly possible - to listen to our hearts desires, our crazy ideas, our whisps of inspiration.  Singing requires us to listen for the magic of breath, melody, harmony, rhythm and to resonate with a song, a feeling, a story until it emerges as outward sound. 
I am currently honoured to be working with Joanna Foster, Angela Reith and patients on the Singing for Breathing programme at the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals on a composition that celebrates the wonder of breath, sound and song. This will be performed on 11th November at the exhibition of Jayne Wilton’s exquisite breathe artwork which makes the inner world of the breath visible.

Dreaming the world into wonder
Later on/ We'll conspire/ As we dream by the fire/ To face unafraid/ The plans that we've made/ Walking in a winter wonderland
We need the warmth of courage to fan the flames of our hearts desires. To make our world a wonderland we must act on our dreams.  The solutions to so many problems - both personal and collective - lie within and at the tips of our fingers.  I was recently inspired by a visit to Paxton Green Time Bank - part of a nationwide scheme enabling individuals and organisations to share and access skills, assets, time and resources. An hour is exchanged for an hour - whether that’s an hour of gardening, exercise or training - celebrating the value of our time and the wonderful wealth we have as individuals and communities. There is more than enough wealth in the world to end poverty - a tax of only 1.5% on some of the world’s billionaires would be enough to put every child in school and provide health care in the world’s poorest countries.  You can sign Oxfam’s petition to help Even It Up and dream a more wonderful world for all of us.

Wishing you a wonder-filled November

Dreaming more wonder in your world

* Make time for a wonderful walk
- perhaps in a new and undiscovered place
* Acknowledge your wonderfulness
- celebrate and list your skills and assets
* Dream something different
- dare yourself to fulfil that secret dream
* Bring more wonder into the world
- do something to make someone’s day

Harvesting Your Creative Contribution

Harvesting Your Creative Contribution

Gather every man, gather every woman
Celebrate your lives, give thanks for your children
Gather everyone, gather all together
Overlooking none, hopin' life gets better for the world
Harvest for the World - Isley Brothers

Here in London, the harvest of autumnal colours brings rich, ripe rewards to the eyes. A rainbow of leaves flutter from trees and mellow golden sunshine warms the cheeks of chestnuts.  Twirling sycamore helicopter seed pods and the crackling smile of a bright orange halloween pumpkin awaken us to the seasonal tricks and treats of Nature.  

Perceiving richness
Wealth begins in our ability to perceive the riches available within every moment.  The treasure trove of our experience yields its glory when we take time to recognize it.  Gratitude is the ability to find and embody greatness, even in the most challenging of experiences.  The word harvest arises from words meaning to cut, gather, pluck - and there will be chopping and peeling to do when life gives us lemons. By sharpening our focus on what can be gathered, learned or gained, we glean valuable riches from experience.

Being and bringing value
Our values determine the lens through which we focus on life.  The cultural, familial and religious values we receive from our environment during childhood shape our perspective.  We can, as adults, consciously choose what we want to value and how we wish to bring value.  For example, the value of my experiences of the natural world inspired me to write music about trees, water, which lead in turn to me joining Sing for Water and fundraising for WaterAid’s life-saving projects.  This has brought me immense value as I have met, sung, collaborated and been inspired by so many wonderful people.

The wealth of wholeness
To walk our talk is to embody our values. To act with integrity requires us to integrate and befriend the guests at the table within ourselves, as Rumi points out.  When the values we have been instilled with are not aligned with our purpose and truth our walk and talk are out of kilter, our behaviours are out of tune with our words. This requires a brave and compassionate look at ourselves to discover what we truly value and to be courageous enough to act on it, even in the face of resistance. 

Harvesting our true values changes the world
Malala Yousafzai was brought up in a culture which did not value women.  She describes facing two choices - “one was not to speak and wait to be killed, and the second was to speak up and then be killed.”  She was shot and almost killed for continuing to pursue her education and recovered in exile in the UK.  The youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize she is now making a huge impact with her message of peace and education:  “I speak – not for myself, but for all girls and boys.  I raise up my voice – not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard.”

Creative celebration
Singing for Breathing at the Royal Brompton & Harefield hospitals demonstrates the power of creativity at work within challenging circumstances. Visual artist Jayne Wilton is currently working with patients, using photography and animation to create visual representations of their breath.  This process facilitated powerful changes of perspective for patients - pathology has been transformed into artistry.  One of the many insights, was just how different every breath is - the richness of textures, sound and character it contains.

When we become present to the gold within us we can gather and harvest our true value.  In doing so we contribute to a harvest for the world.

Wishing you an abundant harvest of happiness this October

Harvesting Your Creative Contribution 
Making a personal treasure map

* Map out your treasure - list and celebrate your gifts, resources, support network, positive experiences, trainings.
* Notice and list the core values that thread through your map.
* Commit to three actions you can take this month which will bring more of what you value into your life.