Delirium and presence

So here I am. A night away from leaving the island of Bali and my fellow yoga teacher graduates.

It’s been great. And I can say this in retrospect of course. I’m a qualified teacher now and I’m grateful for the experience, but really, as you might be able to tell from my last few posts, it’s been a difficult (and incredibly sweaty) journey.

The last few days have been a mixed bag. Just as I was getting upset about leaving, something ridiculous happened to make me wonder how I could make time go quicker. For instance, the high-end accommodation has left us sans electric for a few nights. And by electric I specifically refer to the desperately overused cooling device we call the aircon (cue pitch-black, 35-degree delirium). Add this to some uncalled-for heavily overcrowded surf, awkwardly posed harem-like photo shoots, more mosquito bites than you can shake a deet-covered stick at, and being witness to some other cringe-worthy stuff which might upset readers, and the result is the negatives of my trip still outweigh the sadness I feel for leaving the place.

The lesson for me here though is about presence. We should appreciate where we are right now, shouldn’t we? All that about wanting time to go quicker? Well, it’s an interesting waste of the present (which, really, is all we have). Being more present for me right now is currently translating itself as really trying to really feel the sweat and the heat, embracing the itching of bug bites, and feeling the simultaneous joy and pain of making and leaving some incredible friends. Because when I get home, I’ll probably wonder what I was moaning about.

I ‘spose what I’m saying here is don’t forget to be present folks. Even if the present is a bit shit. Embrace the shit, for it can only get better.

Ps. Bali isn’t that shit. I’ve just learned a very hot, sticky, frustrating lesson about how tropical climates perhaps aren’t really my thing.