Lockdown in Rishikesh

Here we are.

In the last few months many of us had to face changes, some of them highly challenging. Existence has called on us to review our life choices and to stop and notice where we are in our lives, in our relationships and in our willingness to change.

Covid brought such a great opportunity to STOP. Our society has been consuming the world, consuming the resources of this lovely planet, consuming our inner reserves for decades, if not centuries. So much greedy grabbing in the pursuit of creating safety and stability, wealth and the plastic joy of owning the newest. We’ve eaten the world we created, and now it’s time to rest and digest.

This time has found me in Rishikesh. And one by one, in the midst of a global shut down and travel bans, my clients called to cancel my work for the year. No groups of people to train and develop, no trips to five star conference centers, and travel restrictions that limited our planning.

In the early days of lockdown, a client mailed and asked for a meeting to discuss online work. This seemed to me to be a great opportunity. I watched my ego brag about good internet here and my own zoom platform. We set up a time to meet online. Exciting! I wore my corporate clothes, did a full face of make-up and neatly tied my hair. I chose a setting with a blank background and positioned the myself and the webcam for the best visual effect.

There’s an old saying that “if you want God to laugh, tell him your plans”, and as it went. this meeting was a true comedy of errors. I couldn’t get my sound to work. And then as that resolved, the internet cut out. In a one hour meeting, the internet failed 5 times! My confidence became a bit apologetic and as I tried to convince the client that this was Very Unusual, they got “that” look. You know, the look that says: “we don’t really trust your promises – you’ve oversold your capability.”

I closed my laptop at the end of the meeting feeling exasperated. “Ok, God, you’ve closed this door. I am open and trust another opportunity will arrive. God or Existence or Life Force (whatever terminology you prefer) is a wonderful business partner!

Very soon things started moving and changing. A lovely young friend here spoke about wanting to run women’s circles and within a week we put together the first of a series of workshops. In two months more than 10 workshops and events happened. It feels easy, flowing and such a great joy to share in this space. A few people have asked me to do one on one sessions, and I love sharing in that way.

The most recent workshops have been focussed on trauma healing skills. After the first level one, so many more people wanted to learn the skill set and a repeat came a week after. On Sunday there will be a level 2 Trauma Training. I feel deeply blessed here!

This morning I remembered, over a cup of Masala Chai with a friend, the saying that: “in the eternal battle between water and stone, water wins”. Thanking my business partner for this gift of flexibility!