These last four months in isolation have brought up a lot. Whether we are aware of it or not, much is surfacing for us all. As I consider our shared experience of life post covid, I realise that this virus has brought us to an abrupt halt, shaken us to the core and left us feeling barely able to understand it, let alone equipped to navigate it effectively. I think it’s safe to say that we are in deep waters indeed, clinging to the bits and pieces of our old life. It’s hard to imagine what the future will look like once this comes to an end. I know there are parts of the old life that we all long to get back to; feeling safe, feeling free to interact with others, to travel but I wonder if other aspects will have the same hold on us.

I have been going through my own personal metamorphosis for some years now. What I came to understand intellectually is now sinking into full assimilation in my body. I am feeling the fragility of what it means to be human, realising at once how brief our life span is, as well as how little we have in our control. Coming face to face with the simplicity of what we need for a comfortable life, namely shelter and food, has lead to absolute clarity. All that we create after this point is our choice. A family, an empire, a solitary journey by ourself.

I believe there is a deep longing in us all for expansion, to be more than who we are. Are we getting lost in how we’re setting out to manifest this desire?

In the last few months I have experienced how powerless I am in controlling anything beyond myself; how vulnerable I feel as so much of what I had filled up my life with, is reaching resolution. Who am I, as the roles I have played, come to an end and how much of what I set out to do, have I actually accomplished? As I write this, I hear how daunting and downright uncomfortable this sounds and it has been, but there’s another side to this story, one that makes it well worth seeing it through. In the aftermath we find answers in the form of clarity, wisdom and strength. Nothing is as empowering as seeing something for what it is.

To those of you who are trying your best to stay afloat on a turbulent sea, you know what you need to do. It is difficult but stay with it anyway. Your surrender will lift you above your present limitations, to that place of boundlessness that you’ve been seeking your whole life.

 

Best
Afshan x

Through its architecture and design, the Ismaili Centre in Dubai pays a mystical, almost lyrical homage to celebrating the Divine. Walking through the hallways I felt as if I was actually journeying within a three dimensional form of sacred geometry, so often used in Islamic Art. One of the things that really stood out to me was the Iwan, or an anteroom as I chose to remember it. This space serves no purpose but to connect two other rooms. What I found fascinating about this was that until that moment, I had not experienced a transition stage between one point and the next in such a clear and marked way. In our heads, we move rapidly along the current of an almost incessant chatter, barely aware of any moments of respite. Had I not seen this space, not only acknowledged but honoured in physical representation, I may have forgotten a fundamental truth, a great gift.

This never before navigated place that we find ourself in at this time, can also be thought of as an anteroom. A space between life as we knew it and life as it will present itself. Understandably, a lot is coming up for all of us. What it is on an individual level is as different as are we. Alongside, some causes such as racial injustice and gender discrimination, that concern us all are also surfacing for our collective response. Neither of these two topics are new. This has been going on for a very long time and we need to address them both now. All agreed.

However, what does concern me is that protests, which are necessary in their own right must be recognised as what they are and in no way be confused with what they are not. Yes they can be the first step in heralding the change. No they are not the only or the best method to bring in a lasting transformation. All protests come to an end at some point and so can the impetus behind the causes they stand for. If we are looking for lasting solutions, we need to focus where we are encountering these issues; in our day to day lives. To arrive at a collective turnabout, we need to become individually responsible. We need to grow beyond our superficial divisions of colour and gender. These ill founded discriminations have enabled us to adopt one type of behaviour for ourself and another type for the other.

February before last, I remember lingering in the Iwan, feeling as if I had been given room to take a breath; sensing that this undefined space had been considered for me beforehand so that I may take a moment to move forward in a more conscious way. Today we find ourself in a similar transitional space, unique because we stand to attention both as an individual and a collective. What light do we carry with us as we prepare for our next step?

The shift that needs to take place in each of us is the realisation that we are all the same. It is my belief that the day we look at another human being and see ourself, is the day when all illusions fade and we begin to create the life we all dream of.

 

 

Best
Afshan x

A few weeks ago, my daughter and I decided to take up yoga together. Each day, as we check in with ourselves, something new comes to light. I’m finding that the body is in complete synchronicity with the mind. The days I encounter resistance in my mind, I find stiffness in my body and other times where I am mentally relaxed, I’m in flow with the movement.

In the last couple of weeks, we’ve been exploring the idea of finding balance between two opposing forces. While considering it with the mind may prove confusing, experiencing it through the body is so much easier. For example, there are poses where the upper half of your body is reaching upwards and the lower half is grounding into the earth. In bringing awareness to this contradictory dynamic, what I’m realising is that there seems to be a space in between, that links them. If I concentrate on my breath, I can be moving upwards and downwards and being very still at the same time. Just try to do this exercise mentally; be happy and sad and peaceful simultaneously. Right now the brain is searching for software glitches.

You have heard me say this many times; the body will never lie to you, whereas the mind can keep us spinning with its tales. When our awareness is in our mind, we are either going over what happened in the past or worrying about what the future will bring. Rarely is it focused on the present. Our body, however, lives only in the present. Two seemingly opposing forces. Here’s the fascinating part, if we can access that point of stillness within ourself that connects them, we can find the key to synchronising our mind and body while celebrating the integrity of their uniqueness.

This next part is so exciting for me, that my subsequent blog may just be about this topic alone. We often think of stillness as a place of passiveness, a place where nothing happens, but I’m beginning to sense that it is, in fact, the absolute opposite.

Stillness holds within it the ultimate level of dynamism that gave birth to the cosmos. Is it even possible to imagine what it can set forth in us?

 

 

Best
Afshan x

 

 

I find myself cascading across a myriad of emotions as we wrap up a month in self isolation. One day seems to blend effortlessly into the next and what stands out are my day to day patterns. Thankfully, it is these very habits that provide me a basic structure with which to anchor myself into my day.

This new landscape brings its challenges to us all, albeit in different ways. Even the most mindful and optimistic among us have our moments of vulnerability. I keep reminding myself that to be feeling many different things throughout the day is not only normal but expected. With any new situation, especially one that has never been navigated before, that’s bound to happen.

Each emotion that comes up in us, does so to be released. So how do we allow each emotion to move through us with ease? As a little child we were far more aware of what soothed us; a bottle of milk, the feel of a much loved blanket, a lullaby at bedtime, the sight of a favourite toy or best of all, a hug from our mother or father. That feeling of being held, I don’t think it ever leaves us, no matter how old we get. Most of us try to find it in our partners, careers or children but regardless of our success in any of these areas, it will only ever be like holding a candle to the sun.

In returning to our childhood, we remember that sweet warm sensation, that feeling of being safe, nurtured and whole, actually happened inside of us. We experienced it within our self, as we do all of life. And, just as we were met as a baby, discovering our way in a new world, with love at every step, so must we soothe our self now, with the same compassion.

For today’s wisdom means nothing if we still look outwards for what only lies within. As this new situation unfolds, hold that little child in a tender embrace and allow it to soften, once again, into abject surrender.

 

 

Best
Afshan x