It's been a very busy few months for Suzanne and I, with concerts almost every week since the end of the summer. Those of you who are newer subscribers to this newsletter may not know that Suzanne and I have been working as classical musicians since long before we ever stepped into a yoga class. We still play regularly with all of the orchestras here in Ireland, and it can get tricky sometimes trying to balance our time between our children, the shala, and the concert stage.
This past two weeks alone, we've done 15 concerts between us (and all of the associated rehearsals too). Throw in the fact that our two daughters were off school for mid-term break, then one was off sick for another week, followed by the other child the next week, and it would be fair to say that life was hectic.
The run-up to Christmas will be pretty busy for us also, and while we're trying our best to make sure all of the classes at the shala go ahead, it seems like it might not be possible to avoid one or two class cancellations. We don't have as many teaching substitutes as we used to, but we promise that we always do our best not to have to cancel any classes.
That being said, please keep an eye on the schedule page of our website in case we need to cancel a class here and there. If you've been to a class in the past couple of months, we'll email you if we have to announce a class cancellation, and we'll also post it on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
We'd like to thank Des and Melanie for covering a few classes over the last while and also for the classes they'll be doing in the next couple of weeks. We'd also like to let you know that one of your fellow practitioners, Karen, who has been assisting Suzanne now for a while, will be teaching her first solo, led class at the shala this Friday morning. She'll be great, we have no doubt. Come along and support her if you can.
I've no great insight for you all this week, I'm just trying to get all my little jobs done as we go along, including an epic lego project with the girls (very important) and learning music for three concerts I have coming next week. Suzanne is travelling to Letterkenny, Navan, Galway, Ennis, Dundalk, and Kilkenny over the next three weeks so she's busy preparing for that too.
I'm reminded of a quote from the Dalai Lama that I read a few years ago. I'm paraphrasing but he said, "Every morning, I practise meditation for two hours, except for on days when I'm extremely busy; on those days, I practise meditation for four hours".
I love this reminder that when life gets hectic, we need our practice more than ever.
Thanks for taking the time out of your own hectic schedule to read my continuing drivel. Sending love to you all.
