Kings College Chapel, Cambridge (probably England’s most famous image outside of London)

We’re a nation of complainers and moaners, us Brits.

Whatever happens we can always find the gloomy side of things.  An island full of Eeyores.

We obsess about the weather, when it rains, when it doesn’t rain.  When it snows the country grinds to a halt and we all say we’ve never seen anything like it.  Even though we saw it last winter, and anyway snow in winter isn’t that much to write home about.

Then when it’s hot we wave our arms about and tell anyone who’ll listen that we like it warm, but this is too warm.

We don’t believe in heroes – we put people on pedestals so we can tear them down again.  Except footballers.  Football is a religion and the players are the archangels themselves.

We complain about a government that nobody voted in (but somebody must have done).

We complain about immigration, even though 25000 of us emigrate to Australia alone every year.

Every other nation in the world hates us (apparently).  But that’s OK.  We’re not overly fond of ourselves.

And our media can create hysterical fear out of ordinary everyday events.

Why?  Because nothing ever happens here.  And I mean that in the best possible way.

I believe Britain to be one of the safest, freest, most democratic country in the world and sometimes us complacent Brits forget how lucky we are.

Lucky to live in a country where gun laws are so strict.

Lucky to live in a country where abortion and contraception are free.  Where maternity leave is a given, where we get holiday and sick pay. Where we can have that X-Ray or operation without worrying if our insurance will cover it.

Lucky to have freedom of expression, freedom of belief, freedom of religion (whatever lies the Daily Mail might tell you).

And lucky to live in a cloudy, grey, damp climate where other weather doesn’t really happen.

Yes we may all have bad teeth and a Vitamin D deficiency but when I wake up to news of a devastating earthquake in Japan, just a day after China and weeks after New Zealand, I am filled with gratitude for the grey and the damp.  For the fact that the most exciting our weather ever gets is getting stuck on the M25 in some sleet or sleeping through the tiniest earth tremor since records began.  That apart from that Really Rather Big Wind in 1987 we don’t have hurricanes or tornadoes, cyclones or whirlwinds.  Yes we have floods sometimes, but really in comparison….

My thoughts are with Japan, with China, with New Zealand, with countries all over the world without human rights, without freedom of expression.

Let’s take a deep breath and not moan for an hour or two and instead be grateful to live on this boring, uneventful, grey little island.

Blogging by its very nature creates a tw0-dimensional view of the Blogger.  It’s not that I am ever dishonest on this blog, I try my hardest to be as straight up as I can on here with you readers, but this blog is only a small part of my life. It’s a blog about yoga, about balance, about delicious food.  Nobody wants to read about the struggles we all have in our off-line lives, with money, with self-esteem, with our relationships.

Sometimes when there is a lot of unbloggable stuff going on in my life, my heart stops being in my blog.  But as Emma mentioned yesterday, some of us blog every day (sometimes even twice a day )just because we have told ourselves we will.  Maybe we don’t need to.

The things going on in my life will pass.  All things will pass eventually.  My love and enthusiasm for my blog and my life in general will return.  There are things looming on the horizon that could be wonderful, I’m just working on living in the moment and being mindful.

So today I give you a yoga sequence and some random blanks and we’ll call it even.

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This is a beautiful little spine stretcher, perfect after a long week, a long drive or when life feels a little compressed.

Begin lying on your back, knees bent, feet, knees and thighs hip width apart.

Inhale.  As you exhale allow the tailbone, lower back and middle back to lift slowly up off the floor.

Inhale the arms up and over alongside the ears.

Exhale release the spine slowly down onto the floor, noticing the stretch in between the shoulderblades.

Repeat 5-10 times until you feel taller, until you feel you have made space for everything you need in your life.

Notes

1. If the knees tend to fall out to the sides, grip a block or cushion between the thighs.

2. This isn’t about how high you get the hips – it’s not a classical yoga bridging pose (Setu Bhandasana), this is about lengthening, so think about length as you lift.

3. As you lower the spine back down think about drawing the front ribs into the body.  If you look closely at picture 4 you will see my ribs sticking out a little – this is the scoliosis and should not be emulated!

4. Cats always need to get in on the action!

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Blanks courtesy of Lauren!

This post was inspired by Kerry who is getting married in October and whose engagement ring has magical powers!

When I was a little girl I believed in magical rings.  I mean really believed in them.  It wasn’t just a game I played and really, deep down, I knew there was no such thing.  I genuinely believed that somewhere out there were magical rings that could make you invisible and make your every wish come true.  At the time my greatest wish in the world was to have long straight hair as opposed to a frizzy mess but there it is, the wishes of five-year-olds are always simple.  Praise the gods for hair straighteners.

Now I’m a big girl and I still believe in magical rings.  I spent half my life looking for one and then one found me.

About five years ago I came across the ring in the photograph**.  I was bored at work and randomly searching on line.  I wish I could remember how I came across this particular jewellery site, but I can’t.  This morning I did manage to find the website itself.  Take a look.  I can’t imagine what brought me there – a Jewish jeweller who makes symbolic and mystical jewellery.  Whatever your preconceptions, that really isn’t very me, you know?  Despite the whole believing in magical rings thing.

Anyway, not knowing anything about Jewish mysticism or Kaballah I found myself ordering this ring.  It is the symbol of abundance, and symbolises the power of good will in your life.  I remember it arrived the day after Boxing Day.  It was beautifully wrapped with a note written in Hebrew and English.  I put it on my finger and it’s been there ever since.

The thing about abundance and magic in general is that amazing things happen – amazing things that we need to happen but not the things we think we want to happen.  There’s an important life lesson there, I don’t need to spell it out to you.

Within a month of getting that ring I had met Himself and taught my first yoga class for actual money (not much but that’s yoga for you).  In the five years that I have worn this ring life has had i’s usual ups and downs but when it comes to the things that matter – love, yoga, friends, the life I want to live – they have come, in abundance and in the most unexpected of ways.  You could say this is coincidence.  I say that it proves once and for all that there is such a thing as magical rings.

Now if only it could bring me an abundance of good health….

Do you have a piece of jewellery that is magical to you?  Or any object that has such significance?

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Don’t forget to enter the Operation Beautiful giveaway for a copy of Caitlin’s book!

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** This ring is the Shefa symbol.  The Shefa symbol was received in direct transmission from Archangel Metatron by Dvora Pearlman. It was received as a teacher and a tool to learn, to use and to connect with the great divine.

Shefa is a word in Hebrew that literally means Abundance. This word, in its highest and most profound meaning, means a tool for creating abundance. It holds powerful kinetic energy, the kind of energy that when coupled with one’s intent for the highest goodness and aligned with the Divine will, can move mountains or feed the world.