If you´d have come to one of my yoga retreats a few years ago you would have found a more naive Me teaching, as a hardcore yoga philosophy girl who clung to her battered copy of the Yoga Sutras like a clutch, that yoga was all about the mind, that yoga was all about service sacrifice and ethics, that yoga was all about this and all about that and it literally took years of practice, study and working on myself to realise that fulfilment/happiness/joy/ spirituality/peace isn't a one-stop-shop for all. It doesn't look the same, it doesn't feel the same and if it's truly fulfilling, it should be beneficial for every aspect of your life, not just one sector of it. But why is that? Why is the definition of true fulfilment, not the way we all traditionally see it and experience it? Surely those strict, judging and extreme yogic attitudes never garnered much success? After all, isn´t that why the Buddha coined the term The Middle Path. So here's why fulfilment shouldn't and can't look the same for all of us…

I guess for the majority of us, at least at one time or another, our first instinct in defining fulfilment, likely would have been the classic working in a job you love, finding true love, balancing your work with your home, owning a beautiful house, maybe having a few cute children or pets - all while being surrounded by a supportive circle of friends and being able to find time to focus on your healthset too. I know as a mama, business owner, wife, teacher, house owner, friend, daughter, dog mummy and wellness lover I did just that and I struggled when I thought I should then have been totally fulfilled... and yet I wasn´t. It's an experience that has defined how and what I now teach as a yoga teacher, retreat host and woman, it´s clear that the classic model of fulfilment is starting to feel outdated in our society, especially one that has endured a certain level of suffering over the past year. Not only are the effects of the last year shaping our ideals in lasting positive ways but as the opportunity to take on far different concepts has expanded - the definition of fulfilment has had to change accordingly with It and the word SOUL is on the tip of everyone's tongue.

I can only assume the first thing that would come to mind when many people hear the word soul, would be what an enlightened being embodies/nurtures and probably a far-out concept we can´t get to grips with. One thing you certainly wouldn't hear often is people exclaiming is how their soul feels - but for me now, it is almost as productive and balanced as life can get. What makes your soul sing? What makes your soul cry? What makes your soul grow? Have you ever really sat down and asked yourself these questions. Your soul is the real part of you, it´s not your body or your mind or your ego or stories, it´s YOU. A soul needs to be filled with purposeful work, it fundamentally needs to serve and give generously to others, creates good actions and kind words, fun in the sun, fun in the rain, organic friendships, great food and drink, time to recharge and cuddles with your sweethearts, hobbies, creativity, dance, music, laughter, tears, pain, transformation and ultimately love galore. If your soul likes shopping for pretty dresses or the latest technological gadget, fine, if your soul wants to live in a camper van - great, if your soul wants to live in a big house by the sea, great… do you get where I am going here. I learned a long while ago now that fulfilment looks, and feels so very different for every single one of us. I also realised it's so very easy to see how one person lives and in turn decimate our own interpretation of fulfilment. Yet what could be fulfilling for one person could be wildly unproductive for another, but that's something we have to learn, accept and act on.

During my hardcore yoga days when I thought suffering was the fast track to get my yogini brownie points, I lost my sparkle and now I've found that with the emergence of my truth, it's become very easy to feel that sense of inner joy if I honour all parts of myself. It´s so easy for people to insinuate that fulfilment comes before hard work or that it is something to be achieved in the future when you have acquired this/that/things and yet with that comes a certain amount of intrusive thoughts and yet what I have discovered is that fulfilment is a labour of love, a day to day journey that should be unapologetically unique to you and your soul, as well as benefitting all the facets of you that exist. Fulfilment can look as different as you'd like it to look and don't let anyone else sway that for you - you do you.

Maybe you´d like to take a few days this summer to touch in deeply with your Soul and REMEMBER who you truly are, if so I would love to invite you on my unique Soul Rememberance retreat this August in Spain from the 22nd-29th. You can read more HERE.

PS: I´d love to know: What things make your soul sing?

Love Kat xx

Summer Yoga Retreat with Kat Webster Yoga — L

I recently took a health master class with one of planets top health, longevity, beauty and fitness experts, Ben Greenfield who fundamentally views the world in a new amazing way and busts all the myths and lies of the health and wellness industry. I also embarked on a period of intense training with someone who I consider to be (Yoga Journal agrees too!) one of the globes best yoga experts, Simon Park, I wanted to get to the TRUTH about many things that seem to be hidden from us in a whirlwind of commercial headaches.

I can clearly remember how my Mum, just in her late 50's started to die slowly, she lost all her muscle mass and the skin just hung over arms and legs, her back was so sore and she could hardly walk and her organs slowly collapsed dying, finally at 61. I then took a long hard look at myself at 37, I was a yoga teacher who just assumed that my profession would keep me naturally healthy but I was wrong. I was working so hard with my body and putting far too much pressure on myself to constantly achieve and grow that I was loosing my natural energy and vibrancy, I could see myself ageing rapidly and I started suffering from sore joints and I thought ENOUGH. I closed my yoga studio, changed my yoga method, changed my lifestyle and followed many of Ben's health hacks - within just a few weeks I feel more alive, more youthful, more focused than I can ever remember feeling.

Not only does Ben teach that things like 30 seconds to 4 minutes of exercise a day is way more efficient than spending time in a gym or doing 1 hour intense sessions, that one of the best anti-ageing strategy is starving yourself everyday (while you're asleep and it’s called intermittent fasting!) along with good air, that super slow workouts are much better than fast ones, he also reminded us that as we age we do not have to become elderly, that we do not need to loose our beauty and ability to repair and generate new cells. Here are a few health hacks that I learned from Ben - and remember that this isn't a vanity thing (and if you think it is, you might seriously need to check yourself on that), instead this is your right to living long, vibrantly and joyfully. Essentially, this is your responsibility for being blessed with this precious thing called L.I.F.E.

HACKS

. Ten minutes of light movement as soon as you wake-up before any food.

. 5 minute cold and hot contrast shower.

. Have a coffee or green tea before breakfast to support fat burning.

. Fast for at least 12 hours a day / 16 hours is best. So you have you last meal at 8pm and don't eat again until about 9/10am.

. Cancel your gym membership and go out and hike in nature with the people you love.

. You have to have the RIGHT kind of muscle, it's not the amount of muscle you have it's the quality and it should be lean, tight and look amazing. This will give you longevity. Ben loves slow push ups and Simon Park teaches the most mindful, precise and intelligent yoga system I’ve discovered so it might just be worth slowing down on the mat too. I can’t bear fast yoga, it makes me feel out of breath and sore and those two things are not conducive to health, beauty, fitness and longevity, be brave enough to shop around for a new teacher in town yogis.

. Squat for 30 seconds before meals to set up an inner health system.

. REMEMBER your SOUL is the most important element of your being, keep your soul healthy with good ethics, kind behaviour, gratitude, contentment and service and I highly recommend mantra meditation - you HAVE to have a method to get out of the thinking mind.

. And my personal top tip from the bottom of my heart is to realise that you are already enough, you don’t have to be constantly achieving more, getting richer, getting more status or more popularity - that is the biggest load of bullshit society has been feeding us and it’s time to break that commercial pattern and simply live our lives with ease and joy. Yes, I feel that passionate about it.

Last week, at 37 on an intensive training with Simon Park I realised my soul was light and my eyes were bright!

You are SO worth it, you are so so so so worth it.

You can take Ben’s free masterclass with MindValley here.

Love Kat xx