The birth of Seeds of Wonder

Back in June 2018 I was lucky enough to spend some time on a silent retreat set amongst the beautiful, peaceful rice paddies in Tabanan, Bali. Little did I realise how memorable the trip would become!

It seemed business as usual as I settled down to morning meditation, until out of the blue the idea for Seeds of Wonder dropped itself into my mind as I was mulling over the challenges of expanding my own understanding and practice of yoga, healthy living and meditation back at home.

Once I got over the shock of this little nugget landing in my head, I found myself nurturing it, turning it this way and that to see what it could be. As I let it grow in my mind, I started to consider how I could share what I was learning on my own journey into the yoga lifestyle and its philosophy, and how I could perhaps help find ways to make it easier for others to embrace the lifestyle and philosophy too.

And so I continued to dream of what could be – and for a couple of months I thought that was all it would ever be: an unachievable day dream.

However, the Universe had other plans, as it so often does. After crossing paths with two amazing women, Polly McGee and Grace Gedeon, I realised that with a bit of tweaking bringing my dream into being really was possible.

Along with the necessary legal stuff, next up was giving my dream its own name.

When compiling the shortlist, I kept coming back to the fact that yoga and yoga philosophy has planted many ideas in my mind, showing me new ways of being and doing that helps me build a more balanced, mindful life.

My mind also kept reminding me of the amazing ‘ah-ha’ moments I have experienced over the years as I started to understand there was more to this yoga thing than attending a yoga class. As I began to explore further, I discovered the rich well of knowledge, wisdom and experiences out there; from the learnings offered by the Yoga Sutras and Bhagavad-Gita to the beauty of Bhakti yoga and beyond.

…the pleasure of releasing the world as I stepped onto the private sanctuary of my yoga mat after a long day;

…the joy of taking time out to ‘just be’ in meditation when my mind is in overdrive;

…the simple enjoyment of tasting a new dish inspired by yoga’s sister science, Ayurveda;

…the uplifting feeling of hearing my voice blend with others at my first Kirtan session.

And the list goes on. Joy. Wonder. Pleasure. Awe. All courtesy of this beautiful world of yoga.

This got me thinking of yoga as a planter of seeds and a giver of wonder, and so my little baby became known as ‘Seeds of Wonder’.

Next up was looking at how I was going to share what I was learning on my journey and how I could help others discover or expand their own experience of the yoga world.

One of the things I often struggle with is that I conceptually understand how to do something but get stuck at actually making it happen in my day to day life, especially when it comes to yoga and yoga philosophy. For me, being able to get hands on and learning from others helps me take that step between knowing and doing.

Over the years I have benefitted from retreats that have guided me on building my own home yoga practice, workshops that shared tools that helped still my whirring mind and classes that have shown me ways of eating more cleanly when flat out juggling too much – just to name a few.

As these opportunities have been so helpful on my own journey I want to offer this support to others. Seeds of Wonder will offer a range of services including workshops, classes and eventually retreats that I hope will help others build and expand their own practice, learn about yoga philosophy and have a world of fun at the same time!

I have also brought together a selection of goodies that I believe make it easier to get on your mat, sit in meditation, eat healthy, love yourself and tools to help to embed the wisdom into daily life.

Everything on the website is sourced either locally in Australia, from other small businesses passionate about offering products that promote the yoga lifestyle or from enterprises that support those who are disadvantaged in this world.

You will find books that I believe make the Sanskrit texts more understandable in today’s world, CDs that help you access the beauty of the Vedic prayers and mantras, mats that guide your alignment at home, wraps that help you sit longer, beautiful Malas and eye pillows to encourage deeper meditation, as well as cleansing smudge kits and essential oils that are kind to you and the environment, and so much more.

That brings me up to where we are today. Seedsofwonder.com is now live and the first workshop took place in March 2019. Many more workshops, products and blogs are in the pipeline. I would love to share these with you. If you would like to follow Seeds of Wonder as it evolves and get the latest news you can follow me on Facebook and on Instagram.

I look forward to sharing the journey with you…until next time!

Namaste for now…

Carol

Founder, Seeds of Wonder