What the wind told me

The wind knows.
He simply does.
I imagine him as an old gentleman, wise and unafraid.
We could name him Ioannis.
He has seen the world. He has touched the best and the worst of every field, ocean, sky and more.
Being here, now, in Kythira, one of the windiest islands of all Greece, has led me to some revealing thoughts.
As human beings we tend to look constantly for the calmness of the mind, trying so hard to control our emotions, especially rejecting the bad ones.
We hate that we feel fear, anger, anxiety. We don’t want to have doubts.
I always find myself exasperatedly seeking for some soul’s tranquillity, with a very poor result.
Yoga teaches us to focus on the present moment, through the Asanas ( physical practice ) and the Pranayama ( breathing techniques ) in order to reach the absolute calmness of consciousness.
Well, after a couple of years of deep Yoga practice I still haven’t reach that stage and instead of being frustrated I tried to convince myself it is ok. Maybe the first step is to meet the discomfort.
The Greek wind suggested me to look at things from another perspective.
The emotional waves we face during our existence are part of our nature and we can’t change that.
When we follow a certain path we don’t know where it might take us, and this uncertainty is beautiful and frightening at the same time.
Let it be.
Breathe and be part of the spontaneous fluctuations.
Seeing two beautiful cypresses trembling violently made me think that they have joined in a dance with the wind and that this is exactly what happens inside us.
The wind is a kind reminder that we must shift, we must evolve, we cannot hold tight into stillness.
Doubts are welcome, pain is welcome too.
We are made to fluctuate because change is inevitable.
Fluctuations are an opportunity to let go what is no more necessary and be open to new experiences. Blank chapters are there for those who accept the triggering aspects of being vulnerable and full of selves doubts.

“A man can be destroyed but not defeated” said Hemingway in The Old Man and the Sea. 

Be destroyed, fall, rise and fall again. It’s a funny circle. Embrace it with love and care.
I wish to myself and to everyone reading these words, to be patient and kind with ourselves and simply be part of the astonish power of nature. Follow its beat.
The wind whispered me something like this: inner shifting is a slice of transformation that wants to be born. It doesn’t come as a straight line, it’s pure chaos and in chaos you shall find a messy peace.
The sensation of falling down should not scare us, because losing balance means we have one foot close to the sea and one foot close to the sky.

It’s the dance of life.

Cover picture by the amazing photographer Mia Battaglia, shot in Kythira, Greece.