Yoga and Whales: What do they have to do with one another?

I have landed home in Melbourne after my marvellous adventures, where I am loving diving straight back into teaching and seeing how my travels over the last ten weeks are continuing to unfold within, now that I am back in the familiar. Although I was in so many places, it seems the first question on everyone’s lips is: “How were the whales?”

And rightly so – we love whales. In Tonga, my last stop on the journey, I had the incredible blessing to swim with a mother and her calf, maybe only 10 metres away. Adult whales are 12-16 metres long, babies around 4 metres. The calves drink up to 500 litres of milk a day, growing 45kg per day as they frolic in the water with their mums, practicing breaching and tail slapping…

Whales are magnificent, mysterious, beautiful and unbelievably lovable – not the cute animal type of love, but the completely awe-inspiring love that opens you up to the absolute mystery of life.

And for me, this is what whales and yoga have in common… Through diving deep into the oceans of life – actually and metaphorically – we come to an awe-filled appreciation for the mystery of life, its beauty and its vastness. The eyes boggle, the jaw drops, and most importantly, the heart just naturally opens wide… We find wisdom, we find grace, we find presence, and we awaken into compassion. These are the qualities of whales that we are so drawn to, and that are distinctly palpable witnessing them under water only metres away, as they remind us of our own true heart and the things that truly move us.

So let this be an invitation to dive deep, open into your own grace, and celebrate the mystery of life.