My 2020 Story

GDPR

GDPR – what was the actual point?

From a business point of view – particularly small businesses trying hard to comply with a myriad of legislation and by-and-large not the ones causing inappropriate data loss – very time consuming with little benefit to said small business or its customers.

From a customer point of view – totally inefective. for a while perhaps (is is 18 month ago now?) a reduction in unsolicited calls – and now – I’ve lost count today of the number of calls from mobile numbers to my phone. Mobile numbers which I will no longer be answerinfg because when you do it’s either someone from an energy company (not needed – I’m with UW and a very happy customer) or it’s no-one – I gss just cheking the number is real so they can harrass at a later date.

Anwerphone message changed. Calls from an unrecognised number will not be answered. Leave a message or text to identify yourself and I’ll call back.

See how that goes..

Autumn sunshine

I love autumn. the colours, the fullness of the trees and fruit. Nature in it’s display of all-knowing generosity as it becomes aware of the need to slow down and hibernate.

Yesterday the sun shome brightly – today it was cold and wet – such is the joy of unpredictability. You have to take the opportunity when you can and enjoy the sunshine.

A perfect day for a walk – sunny and bright – perfect light for photographs in the woods on the way to the beach (love where I live – so much variety!) and not too hot. Picture show the lovely waterfall en-route.

Temperature dropping by 530 – kettle on and food cooked for a fabulous winter pie. I love autumn!

Sent home

Yesterday I had a text from school – the text that said ‘your child has been sent home’. No longer an act of shame though – sent home as he’d been sitting next to someone who’d since tested positive for coronavirus.

Poor kid. He was so upset. None ofhis freinds were in this cohort of teens sent home. 2 weeks of isolation.

“Does that mean you’ll have to bring me food up to me room?” he asked. Er – don’t I find myself doing that anyway? I’m not convinced his lifestyle will change all that much. Apparently the school will prodive lessons at the timetabled lesson times – I do hope so! – At first he seemed to think he was in for another 2 weeks of doing nothing!

So this moring he’s out of bed and the expectation is that ‘school’ will commence shortly. Wish me luck.

Balance

What comes to mind when you think about balance? – is it something physical or is it that mythical place where in work and home life all is well?

The equinox brings to mind that quality of balance. It’s a time when all over the Earth we all get an equal amount of daylight – the sun crosses the equator – sunrise and sunset are 12 hours apart. In the Northern hemisphere the Autumn Equinox heralds the start of shorter days and longer hours of dark.

So what comes to mind when you consider the quality of balance? Are you ‘good at yoga’ and able to stand on one leg whilst stretching. Focus, co-ordination and a good physical awareness are keys to good physical balance. Healthy auricular system, strength, determination are aided by youth of course – the ability to physicalyl balance declines as we age. You can train this aspect of fitness with practise.

Perhaps in thinking of the quality of balance your first consideration is of that place where somehow the demands of work, rest, play and family life are all satisfactorily met. There is harmony and a deep sense of satisfaction. I’m not sure this is attainable for all – but it is a worthy goal. My tip? Be sure to be true to yourself.

Where does your attention go when you consider the quality of balance?

A point of balance

Autumn equinox – when the earth is aligned with the sun so that each part of the earth recieves an equal amount of daylight. Do you feel more ‘in balance’ when day and night are equal?

To celebrate this point of balance on the day at which this point of balance is reached – which would be technically 14:31 hrs today – I thought it appropraite to greet the day with some yoga on the beach as the sun was rising. With the best intentions I told the world via my social media.

The time of sunrise was taken from a website – usually accurate – and was due to be at 7:06am. I was aware the tide was to be in, but estimated that there should be a bit of beach to work with. I had already zoomed simutaneously with my bluetooth mic and antipated no issues for anyone who was to join on zoom.

So what could go wrong?

Well I forgot to charge my phone for one – the phone I intended to tether the 4G from and use for photos. I attached a portable charger and hoped it would gather some charge.

Then when we got there – with considerable cloud cover – at ten minutes to seven – the sun was already more than half way up – and only visible through a small gap in the clouds.

There was some beach – but not enough for one particular lady who snorted in disgust after insisting we part so she could have 2 metres to pass us (she could easily have used the prom). Maybe she owned the beach.

The tide was in. Luckily the laptop didn’t get spashed by the waves but for some reason the bluetooth failed to engage and all the zoom people could hear was the waves splashing around it. With only a couple of metres to use I found myself teaching up to my ankles in sea water.

Ah these thing are sent to try us – and can only make us stronger. Equinox – a point of balance.

Better late than never

I planted seeds on March – whilst there was still frost on the ground. Tiny plants grew.

I potted them on in April and let them go outside. The plants grew lanky and leafy.

In May I transferred them into the soil – some near the kitchen window and others by the tree at the end of the garden. Full sun, plenty shelter and they were watered and encouraged to grow.

But a whole lot of snails and other garden creatures were watching and waiting. The ones by the tree disapeared within days – snail food I fear! The ones by the kitchen struggled on.

The lower leaves were munched on a nightly basis. The plants persevered and grew to maybe a metre or so.

In everyone else’s garden sunflowers flourished. Tall, luxuriuos, waving in the wind. In mine the 2 survivors were starting to point their heads to the autumn sunshine.

And eventually they bloomed. A touch tiny and lacking in foliage – but they struggled on and made it. Nature at its best – better late than never.

Stranded – maybe

In just over a week I’m due to be hosting my Autumn Stranded event at St Mary’s Lighthouse.

We go to the island just as the tide is about to cover the causeway and spend the few hours that the Insalnd is separate from the mainland doing yoga.

An hour or so to start with some lovely relaxing flows, a tea break and a second hour of fabulous Dru Yoga before the wavs part to uncover the causeway and our path home.

Relaxing, nurturing and wonderfully restoring.

Already restricted in numbers due to ‘social distancing’ and the 2m rule. Will the latest restricions make it impossible to run? Does it count as an exercise class and therefore exempt – or will the venue decide it needs to close. I have no idea.

Stranded – Yoga at the Lighthouse – will it take place? Too close to call at this stage!

Mic fail

Instead of an in-person assessment for my Strength and Conditioning Level 4 certificate I opted to submit a video of me coaching.

Today I set up the time and candidate – all the gear, including my trusty mic and tripod. I’ll say this for lockdown – my presenting and video skills have improved! I have a really easy- to use bluetooth mic and have done a lot of videos for YouTube and Facebook using the same technology. I was so confident that today would be no differnt that I didn’t take a spare mic – why would you?!

But for some reason I just couldn’t get it it work. Yes it’s charged up, yes the blus ligth came on – I even took the case off the phone to ensure to connection was right.

No joy. Still, not to be defeated, I carried on. Just spoke a bit louder. Fingers crossed it’s OK.

A New Curve to Learn

Today I went to the beach – the sun was shining, blue sky and no breeze. The plan was to meet some of my yoga students down there and deliver this morning’s yoga class on the beach – with a zoom option for those who couldn’t make it.

I did feel a bit uncertain whether to zoom would work -using my phone’s 4G with steep cliffs to the west and sea to the east. Miraculously I remembered how to tether my laptop to the phone (nothing like winging it as far as technology is concerned don’t you think?!). Even more miraculously the 4G had enough signal and zoom launched.

And so my first simutaneous live class with students in the same space – and zoom students at home. Slightly different teaching required – but hey, nothing like a learning curve to ride!

It’s so dreary up North

That’s the common misconception of the North of England – dull, dreary, cold and grey.

How wrong could that be? We are blessed to have the most stunning coastline, embraced by fabulous hills and steeped in centuries of rich history and all that leaves behind.

So what if it’s occasionally a bit breezy. So what if you occasionaly need an extra layer of clothing. This is home and there’s no place I’d rather be.

A flask of tea, bare feet in the sand – sunshine warming my body and this view to lighten my mood.

The North is far from dreary – but sshhh … don’t tell everyone..