2015 has just started and one of the things I want to do more of, is to go bike riding. I found this little piece a while back that I wrote about an experience that is still etched in my memory today...
I hadn’t ridden a bike in years.
Fear may have gotten in the way… it was something I really enjoyed doing in my
childhood and often reminisced about riding my bike, as I grew older. I just
had so many reasons validating why I couldn’t do it anymore. I was feeling like
a butterfly whilst on a trip to Bali, doing my Yoga Training. I was doing
things that stretched me physically, emotionally and spiritually. I had also
met so many amazing people. I just felt like I was in a nurturing environment. One
night I needed to use the Internet and my fellow yogi offered me to come
to her villa to do so. It was getting late when I finished and she offered me
to use her bike to cycle home.
Free as a bird with my yogi sisters in Canggu, Bali
Normally, I would have just
walked, but instead I decided to hop on. After all, this was a trip about
personal growth. I must admit I was a little scared at first, it had been
years, the bike was way too big for me and the breaks were not working as good
as they could. All those qualms soon melted away though when I began flying
through the quiet streets of the small Balinese town we were staying in. Time
had shifted to slow motion, I was taking in everything, it was a sensory
overload - the moon brightly lit the night star-filled sky, I could hear the
waves crashing of the ocean, the smell of frangipanis intoxicated me, it was a
warm balmy evening. It was beautiful. I could not get the huge smile off my
face. I felt confident, free, alive and like a child again. I didn’t really
know the way back and there was not much street lighting, but it didn’t matter
– I could ride a bike again!
I always loved time on my bike!
This was clearly in a hypoegoic state, my focus was on the experience, not on the consequences or on my predetermined fears.
I pedaled along a plethora of rice paddy fields, shot past stray dogs that barked with such anger. Fear had eluded me. Excitement and awe consumed me.
I was experiencing flow, through being totally at one and engrossed in the moment. I was living my dreams. I found it so difficult to get to bed that evening from the buzz. I must have fallen asleep smiling J.
I remember this
experience still quite vividly and still smile.
