My favourite time of the year is here. While Dubai is still on the hot, sticky, humid side in September, I still love this month for that fresh back-to-school feeling, Virgo season’s calling to get organised and, of course, my birthday!

The last half of August ended up being a little frustrating; a few minor injuries that I’d been ignoring flared up, my car (bought only a month ago) required towing to the garage twice and coming up to the end of a summer without leaving Dubai with no future travel plans on the horizon all started to feel a little stifling, even without the backdrop of current world events.

The start of a new month (or a new week, season, astrological time frame – take your pick) is always a great chance to recalibrate, adjust and set goals so I’m feeling ready for this month, welcoming cooler climes and being open to new opportunities.

A Card Read

I had a card read with the wonderful Laila in mid-August and it was so enlightening. The cards they drew brought comfort, reassurance and also intrigue for the next few months! I did a “short read” of around 35 minutes, the time went by so fast as I scrawled down notes and asked Laila lots of questions. The cards felt very personal to me, the avatar card drawn was actually the “Lily” card so the spread was definitely for the right person! I’d highly recommend a reading with Laila if cartomancy is your thing, or if you’re completely new to it and want to give it a try in a friendly, personal manner.

Birthday Thoughts…

I turn 33 on September 16th. All through my twenties I approached each birthday feeling somewhat down about what I hadn’t accomplished or experienced yet. It’s crazy how we are made to feel like our twenties are the time to find love, marry, buy a house, establish yourself in a career which is seen as societally important but also deeply personally fulfilling, travel, workout, have a buzzing social life and arrive at 30 with everything nicely in place.

At 33 and during a global pandemic, half of this list feels deeply irrelevant but there’s also a realisation that I have…the rest of my life to do/achieve/pursue anything I want? And that I’m free to set aside the things I don’t? There is no rush or time limit, in many ways I now feel closer to the person I was at 23 than who I was in my late 20s because I’m not longer pressuring myself to do the things I “should” be doing.

Yoga

It’s been a year since I did my 200 hours teacher training! And what a wild ride from coming back from Bali certificate in hand, getting a full time teaching job a month later, losing it after seven months due to a global pandemic, teaching online and realising that I’ve taught over 350 hours of yoga in the last year! 

I’m still teaching online almost daily, there was a bit of a dip in August as my students navigated returning to work and holidays (and while I struggled with a hip injury which thankfully resolved itself with a few days of rest). I’m so pleased that they have started to come back to practice and are still choosing to practice with me. I completed my 50 Hours Meditation and Pranayama Teacher Training earlier this month, which was an absolutely wonderful experience (I’ve shared three ways to start a meditation practice here).

I’ve been venturing to a few more in-person classes, too, including ones at the Burj Khalifa, The Dubai Frame and The Green Planet (all via Core Direction). I’ve also been dropping in to a new studio in DIFC and taking yoga and barre which has been fun. I’m currently just practicing for enjoyment, for a long time I was very fixated on inversions and the belief that being able to handstand was the sign of a “good” yoga teacher. Having worked through a few injuries I’m now just enjoying where I am and not trying to push myself too hard. If these poses are meant for me then one day they will come, and if not then that’s ok, too.

Reading, Listening, Watching

Reading – my favourite books from the last month is My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite. It’s so fresh feeling, funny and thought-provoking. It had been on my to-do list for a while before my bookclub picked it. It’s a quick read and one of my favourites from this year. I just started The Wych Elm by Tana French after speeding through her Dublin Murder series over the last few months.

Listening – obviously the new Bright Eyes record, Down In The Weeds Where The World Once Was has been played a lot since August. It’s already one of my favourite Bright Eyes/Conor Oberst albums and the timing of a somewhat dark, eerie, and the-end-is-nigh toned record is totally perfect. 

Watching – nothing really this months, my cat is far more entertaining than anything on TV… 

Does September feel like a fresh start to you? What do you have planned for the next few weeks?