The second thing that
matters most to me in Sri Lanka is being given a White Space + Blank Page.
I knew I needed to make
new friends – so I enrolled in a Sinhala class and found my first dear friends
and who are just awesome people.
I also wanted to deepen my
Yoga practice and it just so happened that my first two Sinhala class friends,
A and D were avid Yoga practitioners!
How cool is that? I tried
both their recommendations and found that what D referred was one that spoke to
me more.
My Yoga gurus – the
mother-and-daughter team of Nandini and Nitya of Aurora Yoga Studio is just awesome. Nandini pushed
me to achieve poses that I never even dared possible – all in the safe space
that she created. She was tough
but kind. I was practicing with
Nitya most of the time because I did more Yoga when I got pregnant and after I
gave birth. She is an excellent
Pre and Post Natal Yoga teacher. I
love the mini-meditation she facilitates: drawing prana and imagining it
filling my tummy and enveloping Luna then in the womb with love and
compassion.
Sri Lanka provided me a
white space, a blank page where nurtured passions that were just brewing back
in Manila (Yoga) and expanded myself to really put myself out there and make
new friends. Something that I
wouldn’t take the time to do in Manila because I was pretty much operating in
my comfort zone. Of course I would
make friends when I attend a retreat or moved to a different company but that
was facilitated by the situation itself.
Whereas here, I really had to think of opportunities where I can
actually meet new friends!
More than that, what I
thought I would just pick-up where I left off was career. I am a person who anchors my identity
on my career – for the longest time that was the center of most of the things I
did in my life. However when I
came to Sri Lanka, I found out that it was actually difficult to get a work
visa and there is actually a possibility of not getting one!
I took on the advice of my former boss to learn something in the event of not getting employed. She suggested coaching. And the rest was history. That pretty much lead me to the next
season of my life that beautifully aligns with my new role as a mother and a
trailing spouse.
Had it not been for Sri
Lanka, I would have continued on to what was comfortable back home. I’m sure I would still experience
growth. Because at the end of the
day learning and progressing is all upto you. But not all people are afforded this whiteness of a space
and blankness of a page that most of the time comes with packing up your bags
and starting a new in a new country or a new geographic location.
It has expanded me into a
realm that I never would have dreamed of because I never knew it existed. I have everything to thank Sri Lanka
for that!
Hi sweety, first off let me thank you for the wonderful package that travelled from Sri Lanka to Jakarta, back to Sri Lanka then to Manila then finally with me going to Jakarta! What a jet setter this wonderful package is! Thank you so much for sharing the poser (yoga) book and what to expect before expecting. Excited to read them both! And you are definitely calling the energy and willing the Universe to conspire for a DiploBaby! haha!
ReplyDeleteAnyway I SO know what you mean about white space!!! Starting with a clean slate can be daunting and terrifying but there is also something so relaxing and refreshing when you are able to recreate yourself with a new environment and people you just met. It is exciting with the endless possibilities. Sometimes when I go back to Manila I feel suffocated because of all the expectations then when I get back to Jakarta, the minimalism of expat life is also a reprieve, while I am already missing the chaos and complexity of home, family and friends.