Savour it …

jigsaw puzzle Sandra Butel beautywalk coaching yoga love travel Princeton New Jersey Flowers Savouring Fresh peaches — *It's Puzzling ...* Photo by Sandra Butel

I am Sandra Butel and this is my beautywalk.

beautywalk is all about finding our way through this moment and that, savouring the daily symphony of the senses that our human lives entail.

Savour it.

These instructions were the catalyst to a whole bunch of coincidences not coincidences that happened for me today. My yoga guide for this morning’s Gentle Vinyasa at Gratitude Yoga in Princeton, NJ started it all with a sweet anecdote that involved a friend’s child, a yummy dessert and the hushed child’s voice that said, “Oh no, I forgot to savour it,” as a fork was placed down after the final bite.

How often do you forget to savour the moment?

How often do you seize upon the delectable flavour of the perfectly ripe peach that you hold in your right hand; the juices falling slowly and sweetly down to the hairs of your chinny chin chin?

As Daphne guides us in our poses she offers us the chance to savour the moment, by savouring the sips of breath as they so sweetly fill up the whole of our bodies from our nostrils down through to our bellies as they expand and swell with life giving energy. She likens missing the sweetness of the moment to the regret of a child, intent on taking in all the flavours and textures of every single bite of ephemeral deliciousness that has been placed in front of us, never to come this way again.

An Invitation

I hear the coach voice in her tone and the invitations she gives us to move this way and that, pausing to say, “Your body is the ultimate teacher. The goal of yoga is to learn to listen to your inner voice and what she has to say about too much or too little or just enough.” She reminds us to focus in on the in breath, to filling up the whole of our bellies before sucking the diaphragm up and in as we let the breath leak out bit by bit, becoming again part of the air around us. She adds that “I am only here as a guide, and the instructions I give are merely suggestions. You get to decide what you follow and what you don’t; what is of use to you and what isn’t.”

Holding Ourselves Capable

This sounds so much like what I learned in my coaching studies at Royal Roads University. Starting in the fall of 2021, I stepped out of the refuse of my past life into the tentative space of what else there might be for me to discover about myself and my place in the world. The first lessons on what coaching was and was not struck such a deep chord in me. I was so full of exhaustion at having being held accountable for everything and everyone else that this offer to “hold the client capable”, help the other feel “seen, heard and understood”, as we guided them to where they truly wanted to go in our old fashioned Cinderella style coach, felt like an answer to all of my prayers.

How often in the 3 years that have followed, have I reminded you, my readers and my clients, that I am not the expert; that my role is not to give advice, but rather to be there beside you as you discover what you already know?

Listen to the love you hold within

I want so much for you all to realize that all you need to move ahead in your life is to pause and listen to the love you hold within. I offer coaching services in barter, exchanging my skills for your skills. I have offered coaching in exchange for tattooing, for communication assistance on my website and coaching programs, for designing and sewing a bespoke jumpsuit for me and for learning about the reality of being a black woman in Canada. I find such a shift in how these share economy clients see me and in how they see themselves when we go from being coach and coachee to colleagues sharing knowledge and understanding on an equal plane with one another.

As with my experience on my yoga mat we are in this together, guiding one another as best we can on our prospective journeys. Teacher and student, we shift in place from one position to the other, fluidly moving between states as the societal barriers that have been built up fall away and we are left standing, two souls face to face and heart to heart, the breath breathing us into being.

I lean my legs up against the wall and focus on the taking in and letting go of the breath that resides in, and animates, my particular body. Daphne’s voice drifts in, describing the “sweetness of a peach as we take the first bite”. I notice that my breath has shifted since the start of the class and that today I move into a fuller experience of the mechanics of the breath within my body.

Gratitude

The class closes with gratitude for what we have come to experience in this secular turned sacred space, side by side and front to back with these other humans who have gathered here today. As we gather up our things and prepare ourselves to take these teachings out into the bright summer day, there is scattered chatter about parenthood and soon to be born babies, and fresh peaches at that days farmer’s market. I am the last one there, as it takes me some time to balance myself against the shoe rack and get my socks and shoes back on. This gives me time to take a look at the Gratitude Yoga t-shirts and tanks that are for sale at the back of the room. It is my last day in Princeton and marking my last class by taking away a memento feels like the right next move for me. I hesitate between two colours and settle on one that calls to me more deeply. As I chat with Daphne before heading out the door I realize, with a heavy out breath, that the colour I have chosen is peach.

Wine O’Clock

I walk down the stairs, less stiff and sore than when I arrived, turning left on Nassau street and left again on Witherspoon before being drawn into a wine store that I had not noticed once in the 10 days I have walked this exact route between home and yoga. I enlist the wine merchant in my search for one last bottle of wine and come away with a Spanish wine that is “bio-dynamic”, a new fancy term for organic that, as he explains, “Has been rising in popularity amongst wine aficionados for the last while.” I walk the last block to the farmer’s market, my bottle of wine tucked away safely in my backpack, and state my intention to take myself out for a nice dinner and a movie tonight for my last night in Princeton.

,La or Hope in a pin

I head straight to the flower vendor, my intention to buy a bouquet to bring colour and cheer to the welcome home of this particular set of home owners. My eyes settle on the blurry crocheted looking deep red and golden flowers that I learn are called Cockscomb or Celosia. All thoughts of “shopping around” end here as I grab a full bouquet of these bright and hardy flowers that look quite a lot like mini brains. I lean forward to read the pin on the vendors t-shirt and he points out to me “,La”. I don’t quite get it until an exchange I have with another woman who is wearing the same pin leads me to read it out loud, “comma La”. She urges me to “make sure to vote,” to which I reply, “I wish I could but I am Canadian but I will wear my pin and do what I can to spread the magic word around.”

Peaches

Last, but not least, I head to the stall where I had sampled my first peach one week ago today. I ask the vendor if there are any that are perfectly ripe to eat today and she looks a bit dejected as she says, “They are usually better after sitting for a day or two.” She shows me her preference of the yellow peaches as, “They are bigger and when I eat a peach I might as well eat a peach, you know?” She does add that the white peaches, while smaller, “Have a more delicate flavour and people seem to like them too.” I thank her for her time and decide to find a small one to take with me to savour on my train journey into New York City tomorrow.

I pick one up and get in the line on the right, second behind a family of 3, softly pressing into the flesh of the lone fruit I have in hand. It just doesn’t feel ready enough and I get out of line and go back to try again. This time I find one that feels ready to eat and when my turn comes I find myself at the front of the line on the left, face to face with a young man who looks down and with a smile says, “Is that all? Don’t worry about it.”

I laugh, sure now that the universe has been having a laugh with me, and add “A peach from a peach. Thanks so much. I will savour every bite.”

Resources for Further Study and Personal Growth

Yoga has been such a blessing to me in my beautywalk journey. You can probably tell that already from the number of times it has come up as the focus of my contemplations. There are some amazing yoga teachers out there. A couple that I hold dear to my heart are Kate Rivard at Niche Yoga and Therapy in Regina and Fiji McAlpine who offers in person yoga in BC, at retreats set in beautiful places or online at Do Yoga With Me.
My offering as Coach Sandra is to listen and be open as we co-create a space where you are seen, heard and understood. If this sounds interesting to you please do not hesitate to reach out to chat about how we might best work together on making your life a little bit more the way you want it to be. Sign up for a free beautywalk session.
My program From Worry to Worthy offers you an opportunity to move yourself from being ruled by the lizard brain to being guided by the wizard brain. Check out the full program details and book your first free session with me to get started. Friends and Family discount applied to all newsletter subscribers and your friends and family too! I am open to creative barter offers as part of my dedication to the advancement of the moneyless share economy.
If you are interested in signing up for TrustedHouseSitters you can get a 25% discount (as well as pass on 2 free months of membership to me in the process).

I am Sandra Butel and this is my beautywalk. What’s yours?

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