I have just returned home from a 3 week trip to Antarctic with 77 other female scientists interested in saving this beautiful planet. It was an incredible experience with the Homeward Bound program, which is powerfully transformative leadership course for women in science to help them influence environmental policy and create positive change.
While on the ship, I was lucky enough not only to participate in the program but also to teach this group of brilliant scientists yoga and meditation. Yoga & meditation gave us some much needed grounding to balance out the rigours of the journey but these were among some of the most difficult and most enjoyable classes I have ever taught!
The space on the ship was limited so people were tucked in and around fixed seating. This left no space to move between anyone and meant that people could not see me demonstrating anything on the floor. The ship, and therefore the floor, was also regularly rocking and rolling with the southern ocean meaning we almost never had steady ground beneath our feet. Almost no one had a mat and there was a constant background noise of conversations from around the bar. And yet, where else in the world can you teach and encourage your students to send their warrior gazes out to the icebergs or tuck them into savasana as you watch whale tails dive into the depths beneath them.
It was a truly magical experience and I recently wrote a blog for the program about how we are going to face the challenges of now returning to everyday life.
You can read it here: https://homewardboundprojects.com.au/2018/03/13/finally-homeward-bound-teamhb-correspondent-fern-wickson/
Returning home to the beautiful place that is Peaceful Wild makes my life much easier though and I feel blessed to be able to leave Antarctica and yet still return home to the ice and the snow.