If there’s ever a recipe for grabbing the bull by the proverbial, then I find it’s a shot of second trimester pregnancy hormones. Yes, there’s nothing like the good old ‘nesting’ syndrome for peeling you off the sofa and making you want to make things happen.
Now that the fog of trimester one and its all day morning sickness has finally lifted, that’s exactly what is happening to me. I find myself wanting to create things. Actually craving the possibility of completing some home improvements. Gardening. Making small talk with strangers. Having the urge to buy new gadgets. Yes, it’s amazing what having another small bean growing inside you does to your brain, never mind your body.
Speaking of gadget purchasing, beside the new camera, the Nutri-bullet (that’s another blog post), and various other unnecessary household paraphernalia, I recently became the proud owner of a new…wait for it…sewing machine. Never mind the fact that I have no idea how to sew, something has been telling me that I really want to learn. So I booked myself the Sewing Machine Driving License course with ReMADE DXB at The Sewing Parlour, a funky little Dubai company that runs workshops on everything from crochet to decoupage.
While lately I’ve been feeling far from present in my yoga practice, I’ve haven’t felt more in the moment for a long time than during those three hours. Winding up bobbins, threading needles, cutting fabric – I mean, you try sewing in a straight line when your mind is in a million other places. It was refreshing, inspiring and exactly what I had needed. I came out feeling elated and bursting with ideas for building The Peace Lily’s empire. (Watch this space).
It got me thinking of a simple quote I came across recently: “Doing anything with attention to how you feel is doing yoga.” (Jean Couch) It’s so true. How often do we plough through life barely remembering how we got from A to B? How little time do we really spend focussing on the here and now? We can be on our mats in physical body, while our minds do a merry dance between past and present. Anything that breaks that pattern and brings us slap bang into the present moment is a wonderful thing!
That evening as I stole a touch of toddler free time to roll out my yoga mat, I didn’t press play on my usual videos. I popped some music on and went with the flow for a simple 20 minutes. No frills, nothing fancy, but it felt good – I felt present and happy. And you know what? I think it was my session of sewing machine ‘yoga’ that give my practice an extra va va voom that night.
You may not have the presence of any nesting hormones right now, but maybe there’s something you are itching to do. Maybe it’s that thing you keep telling yourself you don’t have the headspace for right now or the energy to get together. Well, why not just give it a go? Take a tiny step?
I’ve pulled a leaf out of that book and I’ll be back learning to sew cushions this week… it might even have the off shoot of helping to make my very sporadic meditation practice a little more comfy…who knows!
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