'No Man Is An Island...'
Anadi and I stood in the street waiting for our chicken to be ready. It was being cooked for us outside on a barbecue.
'It will be a bit of time' the lady in charge said 'why not go in and have a drink?'
We had come from Gros islet gym - Anadi had joined in Mac's resistance class and I had jogged on the treadmill. We then we met up for some assisted stretching! We are both noticeably more supple after only a few days of this practice.
It reminds me that interdependence is the ideal state; and being in a small village demonstrates this even more profoundly.
In Gros Islet there is tangible evidence of community spirit and connection between people; a willingness to work together and move towards one another's needs.
We have been embraced too, very quickly. It appears we are the only white people who actually live in the village and we have been warmly welcomed...
Through the assisted stretching with Anadi I am witnessing my body becoming more supple far more quickly than when I stretch alone. Anadi extends my stretches by lying on my back and such practices!
Interdependence makes life flow better, and when we all recognise that we can go further and faster if we work together, even the word competition becomes a powerful and positive way for us all to stretch and strive together; to expand awareness of what is possible. Rather than it being about winning over, or beating others - it becomes about 'I am doing better because you are there, you are me and I am you, Namaste...'
We may sometimes live in the illusion of separation, that we can manage alone - but as John Donne, one of my favourite poets, says in his poem
No Man Is An Island
No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were:
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
When we join forces physically, work gets done quicker. When we join together mentally, ideas are shared and built on and creativity abounds. When we connect emotionally, and open to one another revealing our vulnerability then we discover that we are all one.
When we journey into one another's worlds and validate and celebrate difference; we grow and flourish as a global community.
And so as invited, Anadi and I went into the bar to have a drink... The most appealing post gym drink was a Piton beer; it seemed we both felt this was just what was needed!
We sat at the bar on this balmy evening, the sounds of Gros Islet all around us. The beer instantly brought a slightly fuzzy element to the proceedings for me; I am quickly affected by alcohol, even with all the cocktail practice I have had since meeting Anadi and the Ouzo practice since meeting the Salvanos family in Corfu!
In the background was the sound of an animated discussion between three men outside, cars drove by fast with their music blaring, with the music from people's homes and bars mingling in as well; and Anadi and I sat in our training kit on stools drinking our beer... After we had finished, we wandered back out into the road and waited for our chicken with a fellow gym goer...
'It will be ready in a bit' the lady cooking said to him...
'Is that a long big or a short bit?' He laughed...
The three of us waited in the street and talked together, the lady asked Anadi and I if we were on our vacation... 'We're nomads' I said - she thought I was joking -'nah...' And then 'really? I think I believe you - nah...'
'It's true' I said...
She still found it hard to believe... 'I have never heard of anything like this before' she smiled and looked at us quizzically... But the man waiting with us believed us - and we chatted together companionably until our chicken was ready and then we came home hungry and ready for our supper!
Today...
I was on the balcony early this morning - before it got light - so that Amy and I could talk on FaceTime at 10am UK time... She saw my dawn break, day raced in fast, darkness to light in about ten minutes... A beautiful spectacle.(and then she could see me too!) Amy witnessed Gros Islet waking up on a Friday morning, she heard the cockerel crowing, the cars starting to speed by, and by the time we came to say 'good bye', it was bright sunlight with the chatter of people outside walking along the road making their way to school and work...
And then I went to yoga...
Friday morning yoga was put into place when I first met Nikoll in Corfu, three weeks ago, and she encouraged me to continue. Only two weeks ago I attended her yoga class in Greece and today I in St Lucia practicing yoga with Mirela.
I was welcomed warmly to the centre by Shama who runs Sportiva Fitness and she introduced me to three of my fellow yogis who had arrived at the same time as me Julie, Jean and Pat. I was included straight away and I appreciated the welcoming bright energy of Sportiva.
The yoga studio is light and airy and I really enjoyed the session. I also noticed that my body has responded to reconnecting to yoga again and is willing to go deeper into the areas that are holding...
I have signed up to go each week, so I am imagining that when I return to Corfu in two months my body will be clearer and have let go of the areas of tension and I will be more stretchy than when I first walked into Nikoll fitness centre...
After class I went to Ole cafe and had a mean green juice...
It was full of green goodness - spinach and parsley, cucumber and celery and much more..
I wrote an email my sister Rosy while I sipped it, and told her about my morning... 'I have been to yoga, and now I am eating fruit and yoghurt and drinking green juice'!!
I felt very much a yogi!