“I breathe, I eat, I pray”

“I breathe, I eat, I pray” answered the swami to the question from a visitor to the ashram who wanted to know what a swami 'does' with his time. “I breathe and I eat and I pray” said the surprised visitor. “Ah yes” replied the swami “but when I breathe I breathe, when I eat I eat and when I pray I pray”.

As I write this I have been in India for 6 weeks and I am increasingly aware of the unexpected changes that are taking place in my thinking and way of being. On December 31st I greeted the delegates for the second of the three intensive programmes that I run here during the UK winter. Listening to these new arrivals I was shocked by how much of the life and work that they wanted to leave behind for a while, they brought with them; their excess baggage. Here we were surrounded by coconut palms and caressed by the sea breeze and presented with the fragrant delicately spiced food that is so typical of this deep south of India and they were talking of flu, and redundancy and financial crisis. I do understand why but it still did not fail to shock me how much some of the delegates were still carrying when they could put it down and just 'be'. And that is what did eventually happen and it is interesting to see how long it takes each of us to choose to do that. My teacher today on the Yoga Vacation course that Spence (my husband) and I are doing in the two week break between the last two programmes said “Our minds are like drunken monkeys trying to climb a greasy flagpole“. The challenge is to still our mind and to still our body. Just to sit crosslegged unmoving for half an hour was a huge challenge for me at the start of this training. I can just do it now and it has taken one week with daily practice for me to get there.

One of those January delegates sitting next to my Indian colleague - Ashok, turned him at dinner and said “Are you busy?” “I am eating” he replied.

We start the CEO intensive coaching programme on February 1st just over a week from now and I will have been in India for just under two months by then. I am curious to discover just how I have changed in this time and what leading this new group will be like! I will let you know!

And I wonder what presuppositions inform the questions that you ask those you meet and above all what questions I wonder do you ask yourself?

Sue Knight—Sivananda Ashram,Trivandrum, Kerala, India—late January

… and just in case you want to know what I have been up to in India and since …

Drumming the rhythm of life

The theme for the January Indian Intensive for Master Practitioners and Trainers was 'Finding our rhythm'. Doug Manuel and Lou of Sewabeats arranged for 30 Djembe drums to be delivered to Cochi for us to experience the art of playing in and leading a drumming performance. One highlight (and there were many) was for us to take part in a drumming festival in the local village and to join with the traditional Keralan drummers in one universal language of music.

This so inspired our local Swami that he arranged for a Master drummer to visit so that we might model his confidence and coaching skills and sheer magic in the sounds that he could make with such simple drumsticks. The pinnacle of this part of the programme for me was the hour and half long performance of a drumming group using the clay master drums. Not only was the music mesmerising but the way that the lead drummer communicated with the other drummers and cymbal players was enthralling. A lot to be learned from just how spellbinding he was. There was so much more … the only way to find out what happens (and we never know for sure just what will happen; it is after all India!) is to join us here … Same dates, same time 2009 and 2010.

Dates for your diary 2009/2010

India

Himalayan Masterclass June 18th—25th (nearly full)
Keralan Intensive 1, December 9th—20th
Keralan Intensive 2, January 1st—12th

France

Chez Nous Intensive May 16th—23rd
Chez Nous Intensive July (already full)
Chez Nous Intensive September 8th—15th

UK

Gene Early with Sue Knight March 30th—April 1st
Discovering the excellence in everyone
(this is module 3 of our Master Practitioner programme which we are opening up to anyone of Practitioner level)

Business Practitioner (but always with a personal and business coaching theme), 3 modules, May—July

Intros, March ( already full), May 7th—8th and October 5th—6th

Talks

Flourishing in a downturn

Join me at the HRD conference Wednesday 22nd April

Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a process of modelling excellence; a way of discovering the difference between great and good. And that difference often lies in our subconscious thinking. With NLP we can learn how to elicit these distinctions and discover the magic that sets some people and organisations apart from the rest.

NLP is perfectly suited to these times. This seminar will look at what makes excellence in leadership and how we can best deal with business adversity.

Inner Peace by Tristan Soames

I open my eyes slowly and take a deep warm liquid breath as a gentle relaxed smile spreads across my glowing cheeks. Gazing into the infinite piercing blue sky I notice myself noticing birds floating gracefully and dancing like lovers just as my awareness comes back to my mind, and to my body. And as that happens, every time, I think what a wonderful way to start my day…how lucky I am to be alive, and in India of all places!

Lying on the beach, listening to the birds singing, and the sea making its beautiful music; the cool sand beneath my body I am completely relaxed; I am at one with nature, with myself and with the Universe. It's funny, I have never experienced yoga like this before but I have now been enjoying Swamiji's yoga on the beach a lot over the last 2 months since being in India … Read and see some

What are you wearing? by Trevor Horne

A good few years ago, during my time in the Royal Navy, I recall speaking to a pilot friend of mine who flew Sea King helicopters. He was describing a planned flight he was about to make and described how he intended to 'strap on a Sea King'. I was quite taken by the expression as it seemed to describe perfectly how he and aircraft were fused together as one being. Shortly afterwards, during my time commanding my own ship, I was thinking how the expression also applied to my own relationship with the ship … Read and see some more

I was in a Quagmire! by Arul Subramanian

It was October 28th & 29th; a Tuesday followed by Wednesday of 2008 was exactly when I met Frank in Marlow, England, who is the father of, no, no, it may not be fair to call him the father of Provocative Therapy - instead I would prefer to call him the 'Grand' father of Provocative Therapy. He is definitely the grand father in many ways. Grand father not just because he has got this excellent mastery; not because he his damn quick in scanning people; not because he is so witty and sarcastic; not because he has got this ability to speak his truth; not because he is 70 years young; not because all that years of wisdom is influencing you and me; not because he knows exactly what you would say even before you knew it - that's exactly what had happened when I was with him on the other side. Oh my God! He was awfully awesome and amazingly terrible! You got to see him! Truly unpredictable! … Read and see some more

And finally

“If we need to keep ourselves warm in cold weather we need a scarf; but if we have pattern or fringe on that scarf then that is desire” Maybe we are moving to a world where it is more important for us to aspire only to what we need, not what we desire?

And Finally, finally
an extra NLP intensive in Fabulous Portugal Oct 15th—22nd

Sue

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