Welcome to my substack from Viveka Gardens
My intention on this pilgrimage, a bit about me, and a regular Sunday post
I am on a pilgrimage and my thought is that this substack can help me look around, explore and notice the internal currents as I tranverse the landscape. It’d be good to have your company in this new section of my spiritual journey. Maybe we’ll tread the path together as a one-off, or meet at different intersections, or be alongside for the course, deepening and matching our pace. I hope we’ll have conversations that delight, affirm and even challenge us.
you can hear me read this intro to my substack here
About me. I’m a longtime yoga practicer – I can’t say practitioner or yogi because it’s always simply practice, just giving it a go each time. In June 2022 I was ordained in the Church of England and in March 2023 I resigned. You can read about that if you like in a facebook post.
But, I can’t seem to lose the habit of theological reflection, part of the priestly praxis and preaching I was trained in. Now, I feel free to explore the intersection of yoga and faith, the embodiment discovery that yoga reveals together with a life lived in Christ.
As I’m in a re-evaluation phase, each published piece will likely be interwoven with some expiation of my life experience. The notion of an interim time or fertile void might resonate with you. It’s a valuable season at different times in our life if we can have it. I’ve turned sixty so one of my enquiries is about elderhood, what that looks like for women in our generation.
I own and live in a humble cob-built barn, my retreat place in Devon, southwest England. It’s called Viveka Gardens. Viveka is the Sanskrit word for discernment (as in ‘what is good and right here?’. Gardens are for growth, for a return to the simple state and joy in the seasons. All together, grounded wisdom.
scroll on down for glimpses of Viveka Gardens
With classes, workshops and retreats, I frame what I do here as facilitating shabbat (divine rest) and shalom (flowing peace), two Hebrew words from the Judeo-Christian tradition that have equivalence with savasana (laying down) and shanti (peace), two key terms from yoga. There’s a lot of lying down and breathing here, eyes closed! And gardening, eyes and other senses open. See the offer at vivekagardens.com.
I’m also a life-business-spirit coach, alongside women (mainly) who want to grow more into the self they are intended to be. And I’m just completing a course in Spiritual Direction, though many of us prefer the term spiritual accompaniment. If you think you’d like to work with me in either mode, message me or go direct to make an appointment for an initial chat.
What you can expect. I’ll have a rhythm of Sunday postings that are lectionary linked* (at least to begin with), also in tune with the rhythm of the seasons. Sunday can be a day of rest but also a day of re-membering - putting our pieces back together to remember who we really are – and re-ligion – binding ourselves back to God however we understand them^ (maybe).
I’m looking forward to seeing who the community might be: the spiritual-not-religious, the church disappointed/disillusioned, the God-yearning-but-a-bit-bewildered, and/or…? If you like, introduce yourself in comments.
Shalom, om, om.
*The lectionary is a standard order of Bible readings shared by a few church denominations
^ I do love the non-binary pronoun for God, freeing.
Thank you, Kayleigh. It's a bit more work recording, and I've yet to find the balance between writing for writing and then uh-oh, this is unreadable outloud: revise the text. So outloud has a few add-ons, just as when I used to preach in church. Glad it works for you.
I do love listening to you, Fiona. Your words seem to speak directly to my soul, so much so that I hear your written word. I'm looking forward to joining you on this journey.