This is not a smug travel blog. We can all agree that a regular commute to London is not something to feel excited about, but; it was those journeys which inspired this post.
Train journeys can be part of life’s great adventure! Like being on a train that gets terminated half way because there isn’t a driver, is a chance to change course (and ponder how a driverless train travelled so far). These deviations can be seen as a metaphor for life; eventually I’ll reach my destination, but the path I planned to take will be different. I have to find another way to get where I wanted to go, and the complexity of that task (I have to make two changes?!) sometimes makes me question where I was headed, if it’s even worth it. Unexpected things can happen to make me change course, things outside of my control, but even when confronted with the unexpected, I can choose what happens next.
Recently I considered how other passengers are like relationships; some are there for the whole journey, some are there for just part of the ride. They’re on their own journey and it’s not a given that we take exactly the same route. And I’m also a passenger in someone else’s life. Which is nice to think about when I lose touch with people. And I also have the potential to be a passenger in my own life by allowing things to happen and just responding when they do, rather than being in the drivers seat.
I had a psychology teacher in college who told me he was a like a train station, just one place I’d stop on my journey through life. Isn’t that beautiful? In one small comment on a Parents Evening he imparted the Buddhist teaching on impermanence. I’m not sure in that moment I fully appreciated the lesson I’d been given (how could I? I was only 17) ...But now much older and wiser I understand that attachment to people, plans and outcomes are the cause of much suffering. Just knowing the lesson hasn't of course removed the suffering.
As a teacher of Yoga I'm now a train station for others. I get the privilege of being stationary while students share their practice, some for years, others just make one stop. It's been my experience that a Yoga and Meditation practice as part of a true Yogi community keeps students feeling on track, during times of particular challenge and adventure.
Plans change, the course you were on, suddenly no longer serves you, or you realise it’s like you’ve been on a sleeper service, just coasting, unaware. Enjoy the adventure!
These articles will arrive in your inbox when you subscribe to my mailing list.
My Yoga Pose Podcast of guided meditations, wit and wisdom is free and available wherever you like to listen to podcasts or here on Apple.
If you found this article enjoyable, leave a comment and share on social media. Thank you, Rosie Pose x