Naomi Absalom, Compelling Teacher and Mentor. December Edition
Naomi Absalom, my very special guest for December. Very auspicious guest as I end my first year living in London and she has been a bright star for my english journey. Amazing, powerful, inspiring, caring, serious yoga teacher. When I met her, I knew that I would never be quite the same afterwards. She has this magic that transforms, strengthens and awakens your heart. I really believe that people who come to our lives, change them a little bit. As i ascribe to that theory, she definitely falls into this category, in spades. I am so grateful for what I still have to share and learn with you, Naomi.
Tell us 3 things about you?
1. I have a really dark sense of humour which comes out at the most inappropriate moments.
2. I used to work in the music industry. I was staying at a hotel in Soho Manhattan for work on 9/11. I saw the planes hit and watched from the street as both towers came down. I then got stuck in New York for a week with Wyclef Jean and Brian Harvey, Wyclef Jean's father then died in a freak accident and we ended up at the wake at his mother's house eating chicken in the kitchen with his family. I cannot begin to express in words how surreal that week was! We couldn't call home for a while and I had no idea how things were unfolding back in the UK. It was the strangest bubble to be in. A lot changed for me after that, I started to wake up pretty fast and it was really, in some ways, the beginning of the end.
3. I am known by some of my dearest students as 'The Queen of the Crumble' which refers to my capacity for undergoing regular, involuntary mini breakdowns! It's kind of like being in a life long detox.
What feels like love to you? Love is a deep and truthful knowledge that we are each responsible for the current and future state of the world in which we live, not just our immediate families and homes but the planet and every child, animal and plant inhabiting it. I am mostly inspired by people who are working towards spreading this message.
What are you afraid of? That I will not be to make enough of a difference in the time I have left. That I will not get the guts needed to take a monumental step up. This thought actually keeps me awake a lot.
What is your favourite song? I am a huge consumer of music so this is a nightmare question for me. At the moment I'm listening to Andrew Bird, Kurt Vile, New Order's new album...If I had to play one song at a party it might end up being something by The Stone Roses or The Smiths - I am a Northern girl at heart. Their music is incredibly nostalgic for me. 'Blackbird' by The Beatles, in fact everything by The Beatles and all of Bowie's stuff....nightmare question. Can't answer it!
Share one of your favourite recipes. My go to snack is steamed tempeh with a ton of veg and either quinoa or brown rice and then this epic sauce sloshed all over it - chopped garlic, ginger, chilli, coriander mixed with apple cider vinegar, braggs aminos, sesame oil, freshly squeezed lemon and lime juice. I serve it up with avocado, humous, olives and sprinkle yeast flakes all over.
Best advice. 'Never give your power away'. It was in relation to parenting, specifically the maternal role at a particularly worrying time when we were looking for answers. It radically changed my outlook and I've never looked back. Really powerful advice.
Favourite Book: Again impossible to answer but I have an emotional connection to '100 years of Solitude' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, my son is named after him.