The Destination is the Journey…
I am sitting in the crystal bar at Buxted park, it is cozy warm here… Outside the rain is pouring down; it has a winter feel to it…
And yet this morning the day dawned fresh and clear, sunny bright over a sparkling sea. The tide coming in slowly of the wet black seaweed stones.
The sunshine coast in all her beauty…
Anadi and I ran barefoot over the grassy hills of the south downs, the ten mile run taking us up to the peace stone – down the other side, running free, flying on land – up through the sprawling fields where the sheep roam… They watched us, smiling, lazily jogging away as we approached, over the top again and around the Hollow.
We passed by a group of runners, who were running in the opposite way…’No shoes’, they chorused… ‘Watch out – it’s slippy…’
How the terrain changes under my naked soles… From flat beaches, warm brown roads – to tussocks and grassy hills, slippy mud hills… But oh the delight of the step, of being in the next one and the next and the next. Committing to the now, living and trusting that when we fully embrace the one we are in, the next will truly look after itself….
After a delicious breakfast in Ravilious, I walked to the Grand… I noticed that my feet caused more of a stir than I have become accustomed to abroad… The warmth was leaving the day, which meant my bare feet were more obvious; empathy for chilly toes, ouchie roads…
Zoe and I were meeting for coffee and to vlog together! She is a yoga teacher and as we sat drinking coffee and enjoyed being in one another’s company, she said that she is pledging a percentage of every lesson she teaches, to my barefoot run across Spain… What a huge and generous gift…! Thank you, thank you Zoe Neo…
We had such fun… She had brought along her beautiful and very big Tibetan singing bowl; she struck the side of it , and a sound of the soul pure spirit emerged from its body, in the lounge of the Grand… This caused a stir… ! And us to get the giggles…
As we started to film our ‘outdoor section’, the heavens opened and we laughed some more… Peels of laughter, joyous connection and celebration of life and love…
We have already planned the second ‘in the series’, when I am next in Eastbourne we will make a short vlog exclusively on yoga….
When I let go of the life I knew before, I trusted that the path would reveal itself; and although when I set off, I had no destination in mind… But I am seeing day by day a path opening up which is rich with experience, with events, fun, relationships, joy and possibility…
And more profoundly than ever, I am having demonstrated to me that the destination is discovered in the journey…
I have been running all of my life – it feels I was born to run. In the running step I experienced freedom and my true expression. I came to see that I needed to ‘get out of the way of myself’ and let my energy flow through the running step; allow it to express itself in the dance and the motion of running. I ran for England and GB for some years. My first international was in 1979, a three mile cross country race; and I continued to run at international level until 1993. Two of my best results were first place in the Dublin City Marathon in 1985 and 7th place woman, 3rd British woman in the 1986 London Marathon in a time of 2.36.31, which gained me selection for the Commonwealth Games.
As a little girl I ran barefoot for many years, and then I put on shoes to race around the world. Fifty years later I am travelling the world as a nomad with my husband Anadi and I have taken off my shoes and I am running barefoot again….
Mobile: +44 (0) 7866 396 233
Email : juliachitaylor@gmail.com
