Sea breeze and sore calves ☀️

sunny regards from the beautiful island of La Palma!

Pete and I arrived on Saturday here in the isla bonita as they call La Palma – the beautiful island.

La Palma is beautiful indeed.
This is the most green and lush of the Canary islands and less touristy too.

You never know what it looks like behind the next curve on the road. So many different features with volcanoes, ocean, beaches, lava rock, lush forests, pine forests, many exotic flowers blooming, dramatic rock walls dropping into the ocean…

For the second time we rented a house on the cliffs in the northern part of the island overlooking the Atlantic ocean.

We are in a small village called El Tablado which is really on the edge of everything: many abandoned houses and ruins, seagulls and intense waves (no swimming in the ocean here – it is too rough and difficult to get to), no food stores or other services, some families are still farming land and keeping animals and getting income from renting a room or their empty houses.

And the views are amazing here.
So beautiful and dramatic with deep gorges on both sides of the village.
Great for hiking and a bit demanding too with intense ascents and descents.
(I could feel that in my cafs in the morning!)
I enjoy cities with art museums, cafes, restaurants and architecture. And nowadays I enjoy silence and the countryside even more.

My favorite way to have time off is to sleep in, do some morning movement (recently Pete and I got into Qigong) and meditate, have ample time for breakfast and dice games and go for hikes, enjoy green sceneries, read my book overseeing a nice view (reading in sunshine is an additional bonus) and have nice meals.

Maybe it is an age thing that crowds are calling me a lot less and silence and peacefulness is the luxury I want.

Maybe I should educate myself more on this: does the nervous system become more sensitive as we age?
On the other hand my crime books are calling me even more than before!

Also, as it turned out the internet connection was really bad in these very rural areas and thus we did very little work or other stuff online.

In a way forced digital free time.
Actually, it is very good to focus on just being when going online or scrolling is not an option.

So is there something deep and important I want to share?
Not really: just want to say “hi” from La Palma and ask you a few questions.
(and to entice you a little to join us for the next 8-Day Intensive in Syvilla Finland in June.

So my questions to you are:

What is your favorite way of relaxing?
When is your nervous system at ease?
How do you recognize that in your body and mind?

And: what is your favorite way of having time off or a holiday?

Love,
Tuulia (& Pete) ❤️