I come from a family full of teacher’s, seriously everyone around me teaches or did teach. All that said, I didn’t particularly enjoy school. You could say I’m not very intelligent. Maths makes no sense at all to me, spelling and grammar feels like such a challenge and the idea even now of sitting and listening to someone for over 30 minutes makes me anxious. But then I found travel, which I now believe to be the richest form of education.

We’re back in India right now, in Delhi. This place both educates and tests your patience. We visited an inspiring temple yesterday called the “lotus temple”, which invites all religions to come together in silence to pray or meditate. There are no pictures or symbols in the temple and they ask all people to stay quiet (even new born babies). The point of the lotus temple is to represent humanity in its purest form, yet you would be amazed by the amount of people who just couldn’t sit still and silent for even 10 seconds. Coming from the west we often think that we need to stop and take time out more than the east, that they’re somehow more in tune with life and find meditation easier, but the truth is we’re all just the same.

Sure there has been some blatant differences between cultures as we’ve travelled through countries. Everywhere we go a product called “snail white” is sold, to whiten women’s skin, all the time I’m laying, sprouting like broccoli, for the “sun kissed” look. Spitting and just generally using the street as a toilet is a clear difference. Women’s rights has such a long way to go, chivalry is non existent along with women baring skin being seen as distasteful. However, with recent events happening in the world at the moment (brexit, ahem!), this is not a topic I’m going to spend time on. Instead I’m going to list some things I’ve learnt throughout this adventure, that I feel ties us together as one race, the Human race. I’ll apologise in advance for offending anyone, these are purely my own views.

Grumpy teenager’s are global.

Language is truly incredible.

Women are amazing at gossiping.

Everybody is learning, nobody has it all figured out.

Even the poorest people seem to own mobile phones.

Ignorance is bliss, but severely dangerous.

Candy crush!!!!

Unconditional love for our children.

Epilating never gets less painful.

Education is key in our world, but you can’t force it.

Flying is convenient, but nowhere near as much fun as Indian trains.

James is the greatest biker ever, accompanied with having the most patience a human can have.

Religion could potentially and singlehandedly destroy the human race.
Family and friends are more important than I can express.

Music can make me laugh, cry, meditate, think I’m Beyonce or Dave Grohl.

The world is so small, but holds so much to explore.

Your opinions and views are based on your own life experience – don’t exclude others, even if you don’t agree.

Money isn’t the most important thing, but it sure makes the world go round.

Finally, have one focus in life. Be content.

If you’re just starting out in meditation don’t force yourself to sit awkwardly. It’s hard enough to just sit without being uncomfortable. However if you’re aiming to meditate in Lotus pose or Ardha Padmasana watch your knees! Try just sitting cross legged with books stacked beneath both of your knees, removing them one at a time the looser you get. Then start bringing one leg in to Lotus, until you can bring both legs into the pose. Focus on bringing the knees down to the ground, resting the hands wherever is comfy. Hold for a few seconds or a few minutes. As long as your breathing is steady, and you’re not focusing on any pain in your body, this posture has no time limit.

Stretch your mind – meditate.

Grace x