Bula To Bliss Time

In pursuit of calmness and clarity, our busy editor Nicky Dewe took a tropical time-out in peaceful Fiji for a bit of breathing – and quite a lot of stretching – space.

As the editor of Good Health & Wellbeing, I’ve read many stories about the incredible benefits that yoga can have on both our physical and mental wellbeing. While I’ve never had any doubt about the veracity of these claims, I confess that my own commitment to the practice is patchy at best. Certainly I love the idea of it. Absolutely, I long for the sense of deep peace and contentment that it can bring. But do I show up enthusiastically to class every week? No. No, I don’t. I’m too tired, it’s raining, the dog ate my homework… What I lack in effort, I readily make up for in lame excuses.

Recently, however, I discovered a very simple but effective way to combat my malaise. Instead of heading along to the local studio, I took a class on a remote tropical island off the coast of Fiji. Let me tell you, it’s much easier to salute the sun when you’re standing in the warm sand underneath it. Holding a tree pose is no problem when giant coconut palms are swaying overhead. And as the waves lap on the shore beside you, well, you simply fold up into the ‘sleeping child’ and call it a night.

But, impressive as it is, this newfound effort towards bending and stretching, is in fact merely the beginning of my journey towards calmness and clarity during five glorious days at the Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort in Savusavu, Fiji.

Keeping it local