A Tropical Hut of One’s Own
Ah, the importance of time alone, time away from it all… I cannot stress it enough. I just returned from a yoga retreat with one of my all-time favorite teachers, Peggy Orr, at Haramara in Sayulita, Mexico. Haramara is rustic elegance at its best. And, for me it was out of this world. Literally. So different from city living. The lack of electricity (candles and flashlights only), no cell phone reception, open-air rooms without locks or even many doors, and the freshly prepared veggie and vegan food, facilitated my peace of mind, freedom of spirit and joy of heart.
Upon returning home from Mexico, I followed my urge to revisit Virginia Woolf’s famous women’s lib essay, A Room of One’s Own, where she instructs that every woman with creative and intellectual potential, in order to give her genius a fighting chance to shine, needs 1) a room of her own and 2) a stable passive income. Sure, sounds nice and tough to come by. Some disagree that those things aren’t necessary to expressing genius, but what I can say for sure is that we all need a little time and space to reconnect to our true selves, our heart’s deepest desires, and our uniquely beautiful talents.
The time spent on our own with no particular goal other than to explore ourselves can be spent almost anywhere, in a candlelit bedroom, in a bathtub with music lulling us, on a mountainside trail, or (and I’m currently partial to this option) in a tropical hut with a modest but comfy bed, mosquito net, outdoor shower, and old-fashioned oil lamp to read and write by. (Okay, 4 hours of yoga a day on retreat helps too, but I’m not going to suggest that’s possible for everyone.)
Whatever you do, find some time and space for yourself. At all costs. I promise that the most amazing things will happen.
Time to retreat,
Amy
24 Feb 2009
Emily
On the similar topic, read this article: chronicle.com/free/v55/i21/21b00601.htm