At 60 you can do anything, say anything, and go anywhere.
(Well, that’s not entirely true but it’s a credo I play with in my head)
And yet it is a big birthday and the lead up was mindful. What did I want for myself that would add to and make my life immeasurably better. The answer was clear. I yearned for a Women’s Circle. A safe and kind space to share thoughts and feelings. A friend knew of a Yoga studio in Maroubra that hosts them. I booked on the Marouhome website and like Alice falling down the rabbit hole, I floated into a world of movement and magical healing that cushioned me to my Happy Birthday and beyond.
Michelle & Mei mei
This is no ordinary studio. It’s a home of you. Giving yourself to growth, to self expression, to opening. Moving my body with intention and easy trust has helped me physically, mentally and emotionally. I have grown more in the 180 classes I’ve attended than in all the other years of self discovery.
The actual studio, Marou home is soothing.
It’s on a quiet street next to a flower shop and down the road from a cafe that makes the best Chai and Pho.
The white curtains festooned and loosely tied to let the honey coloured wooden floorboards peek through. The mats that pay a nod to the people of the land, the Bidjigal and Gadigal people who share this space, are art works in sponge. The light that streams through naturally paints the walls with changing shapes and shadows.
This is a clever space. A purpose built design that is all the more impressive in that it was an old laundry that was gutted and transformed into a womb of wellness. The timber wall sneakily houses the bolsters, blankets and mugs that warm us and home us as we come back gently to ourselves.
Coming back is what I do. I treat myself and honour the practice and I show up. I have allowed myself to succumb to the natural move of my self and my breath that makes my machine of self continue to explore. There are times I rest and restore and shavasana my soul on my mat near the door. It’s my chosen spot. I’m closer to the birds. There is a tree just outside where a community of birds bellow their song and welcome their day in a cacophony of cheer for our early start. They are the same troop of birds that close their practice in the evening when the light changes and the day says farewell.
Community is where it’s at :-)
Marou home has simply changed my life. I now have a community that I am growing with. I’m considerably older than the cohort. I could be all their mothers and yet on the mat, meditating, talking about the size of the swell (the studio is a 2 minute walk from Maroubra beach) we are all the same. We are people who have a thirst to discover ourselves and challenge who we are and where we want to be. I have met extraordinarily wonderful people in this studio, this Marou home, which is a unique manifestation and brain child of two sisters. Hannah and Maddy. Sisters doing similar work, sharing a vision and building a community one class at a time, one month at a time, one year at. Yep. It’s just over a year old.
These beautiful sisters share their skills, their experience, their voices and movements as they guide us and deepen our understanding of the practice of yoga and meditation. This is an exceptional studio. There is Strala Yoga (google it), Yin Yoga, Feldenkrais, Meditation, Massage, a Men’s Circle, a Women’s Circles, Embodies dance, Breathwork and Somatic Sound,….. There are 8 teachers and around 17 classes and each one holds their own.
Annika in the light
I was fortunate to discover Feldenkrais about 3 years ago. My continued commitment to this modality of movement and integration of body function is supported at Marouhome. Deb, the Feldenkrais Method practitioner, is a beautiful woman. She is also Hannah and Maddy’s mother. My days are punctuated by Marou home classes. I plan my week around work and most importantly and especially, my commitment to me. And me means making way with intention and devotion, to the authentic sanctuary and sacred space of wellness - Marouhome.
I chuckle inwardly. I can’t do anything or everything. I can’t say anything or everything. And I can’t go anywhere or everywhere.
But I can go to Marou as many times as I like. 😉
Michelle.