Making a New Life - Leaving Your Comfort Zone

 

Leaving Your Comfort Zone

Creating a new life for yourself, one that you crave, sounds like the perfect goal. So why do we all not do this? Sometimes life just gets in the way, for example the bills have to be paid or you have responsibilities that you cannot just leave behind. But what would you do if you could just up and leave?

It is definitely something to think about and focus your attention on what you really want from life. I have been very lucky in my life. I have no children, or older parents/family that are dependent upon me, so my time now is to create that life! However, during my lifetime I have been lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. When I decided to move overseas in my mid thirties, I found a job in the local newspaper (no internet at that time) working for a package holiday company. I worked overseas for 8 years. I wanted to work onboard cruise ships and had bought a lot of books and magazines in the hope of finding a job. I wrote to a shipping company, sent my CV and it just so happened that they really needed a rep for the 'Caribbean, Central and South American' 80 day cruise. This is an amazing cruise and not normally given to a new employee. So once again, I was in the right place at the right time.

I realize that I love travel, I love fitness and I love Yoga. This is my best life to include all three.

My Journey - Making a New Life

I started to make plans in my head, thinking about what I needed and I felt would make a life perfect for me. I knew I wanted to work overseas again and I knew I needed exercise, water and yoga to make my life complete once again. I wanted an adventure, but also being a little cautious, I knew I was no longer in my mid 30's. I looked at volunteer work overseas for Yoga instructors working and practicing on retreats. Volunteer work would give me some experience and knowledge to take with me if I wished to pursue my working life in the direction of yoga. I looked at lots of exciting adventures in Hawaii, Panama and New York. I had to slow myself down a little here and air on the side of caution. After all, I may not like working on a retreat and further more I may not like just teaching yoga as I am use to teaching a wide variety of classes. Perhaps a retreat a little closer to home would be a better starting place?

Making a New Life - A Bit Closer to Home

After the wise words of my sister 'Don't forget, if you don't like it....you gotta make your way home somehow' I reassessed. So perhaps a yoga retreat in the middle of the Panamanian Jungle was not a good choice for my first adventure. So I started a new search closer to home and I stumbled across Corfu Yoga Holidays. I love Greece very much and this seemed like an ideal opportunity for me. I know Corfu quite well having visited many times on holiday and for work, so perhaps this seemed a little less scary and a lot more accessible. I contacted the owner and asked if she needed any Yoga teachers this season and to my delight she said that she needed one from September until the end of the season. So without a second thought I sent my C.V and said I was available. Before I could even think about facing my fears, I booked a flight, train ticket and an overnight stay at the airport within the space of two hours. That was it......decision made, all booked and ready for my first sole adventure overseas.

Packing for a New Life

I only had 6 weeks to think about what I needed for an overseas Yoga life and not being a person for over-packing, I always opt for cabin luggage only. This was about to be a challenge. I would need work clothes, summer clothes and swimwear, plus 2 months worth of toiletries and all my electronics. I brought travel friendly cosmetics and toiletries and I found a compact speaker with a USB port as I hate relying on WiFi and bluetooth connections. I also brought a small Chrome tablet and foldable keyboard. Once I placed all the clothes and items I needed on my bed I started to panic as it looked way too much for my two cabin cases. I brought some packing cubes from Amazon so that I could organize everything into each cube and to my amazement everything bar two dresses fitted perfectly into my cases. I also ordered some cosmetics to collect from the airport. So that was it everything was prepared and ready to go. The time had arrive to leave.

I wanted the journey to start well without the stress that travelling to a destination can bring. The airport stress had been limited by taking cabin luggage only. I didn't want the stress of coach travel and connections or a taxi ride with the stress of traffic congestion and roadworks so I booked a first class seat on the airport express train. This was the best ever decision and the journey was smooth and trouble free. I booked an overnight stay and this all felt so positive for the start of a life change. Everything went to plan, no delays, no stress and no anxiety.

Arriving at my Destination - Corfu, Greece

I arrived in Corfu just after midnight and George (the transfer bus driver) was waiting for me. I was so grateful as this is the first time that I have had to rely on communication between myself and the hotel. I normally travel with a company or agency that arrange all travel and transfers. I knew that once the transport was there I would feel stress free from travelling. I traveled with an arriving guest which was really quite nice as I would know at least one face when I started to work the following day.

Once at the hotel I checked in with the reception and George took me to the 'Yogi' house. It was dark (it was 1.30am). I found a bed and just slept. I woke at 7.30am to sunshine and a beautiful view from the very expansive balcony of the 'Yogi' house. I felt happy and contented.......This felt so right. I had a meeting mid morning with the chief Yogi and we discussed the rules and regulations of the house and the work that was expected of me each day.

I had two types of yoga to teach. A morning energetic practice and an evening gentle practice. I was able to teach in my preferred disciplines, being a morning Hatha Flow and an evening Yin or Gentle Yoga. My other duties were to include guided hikes (twice a week), helping with the guest arrivals, helping to prepare the rooms for Yoga guests, helping with other activities that are offered to the guests and to organise and host a 2 hour workshop once or twice a month.

An Outside Studio Next to the Ocean

I went to look at the outside yoga studio. With the weather being so warm and beautiful here in Greece it seemed like a natural 'given' that the studio would be so close to the sea. The sky was so blue and the sounds of the ocean so rhythmic ..... this is a perfect place to practice yoga.

I gazed at the beautiful view, I listened to the sea, I took everything in that was around me and I felt so grateful.

I went up to the reception area and I met the owner of the complex who I had originally contacted and had many conversations with. It was so nice to meet her and she was every bit as lovely as I imagined from her emails.

I unpacked my cases and sorted all my things into the storage area I was given and I started to prepare my classes for the weeks ahead. 

It was 29 degrees and late in the morning. I helped to prepare rooms for arriving guests and later I joined in the yoga practice, taught by the head Yoga teacher in the early evening. 

Dinner was served between 8pm and 9pm and I joined the Yogi table placed in the centre of the dining room. The food was so delicious, some local dishes, plenty of organically grown salad vegetables, with freshly baked bread and fresh fruit.

It seemed like a perfect start to a new life.

©HealthyForeverFitnessMotivation

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