Returning home from travelling the world. Do we belong here anymore?.

‘You’ve changed.’

I recently returned home after spending 6 months teaching yoga in India and I still feel like I’m in limbo.

How do we transition back into our ‘normal life’ when we return home from traveling or spending a long period of time in a different country? Once we have the travel bug do we ever feel like we really belong?

We come home to friends who are coupled up, buying houses and having kids.

As I’ve been on my yoga journey certain friends have slowly dwindled away as I’ve grown on my path, which is normal, some people just can’t come along with us for the ride, and it allows for new people to come into our life.

Long gone are the carefree days when we can ring our friends or even turn up at their house and do something spontaneous, now its, “I can fit you in my schedule in about 3 weeks time?”

Whilst we have grown and spread our wings in another country and learned so much about ourselves and other people’s behaviors, we return to where people are probably still doing the same old thing, stuck in their ways, and we get all offended when people say ‘you’ve changed’?

We’ve visited remote places, communicated with people who don’t speak our language and been in situations we never thought we would have been in.

We’ve expanded our mind, our boundaries, so yes of course ‘we’ve changed’, and be proud of it!

Not everyone is going to understand us. Not everyone is going to get us. Not everyone is meant to be on our path.

Whoever is meant to be in our lives, is meant to be there.

Yoga has allowed me to grow as a person in the way I ‘want to’, so yes I’ve changed. Crying as a release, reflecting on situations on how I could have reacted differently, becoming more aware of my thoughts, positive thinking, affirmations, emotionally more stable, higher levels of gratitude.

I’m sure there is much more for me to work on but it’s all part of the journey, right?

“Once you realize that the road is the goal and that you are always on the road, not to reach a goal, but to enjoy its beauty and its wisdom, life ceases to be a task and becomes natural and simple, in itself an ecstasy.” – Nisargadatta Mahara

Now it may be my traveling-care free- travel freedom- mindset, or is this ‘the new me’? Have I opened my eyes to what else is out there and can no longer live in the confines of my hometown?

People ask how we are feeling since coming back?

We can have good days and bad days but this unnerving feeling of, ‘is this it?’ after having our mind expanded by the world, knowing that we may not belong here anymore.

I read this article the other day and it really struck me. It sums up completely how I’m feeling right now.

“I want to be able to dream about the future, while also marveling at the exquisiteness of what’s happening to me right now. I want to be able to work for what I want to create and know that my life is heading somewhere wonderful, while also being able to taste each delightful flavor of my life right now.”

Have you felt the same?

Here are 7 things to try to help us feel grounded after we’ve been away:

1.   Journaling; start with a question/statement and free write, whatever comes to mind, writing it on paper can really help to release

2.  Practice yoga and meditation; get to a class or try a video on YouTube, no-one went to yoga and regretted it! There are loads of free activities during the summer, search online in your area!

3.  Spend quality time with family; they are the people who will be there no matter how much we ‘change’.

4.  Arrange to go for dinner with a friend; catch up with an old friend, try the new restaurant in town!

5.  Have a clear out; Go through your wardrobe and that drawer and get rid of unwanted things! My motto is: Does it bring me joy? If no, throw it away! It’s so satisfying!

6.  Exercise with a friend; it helps with motivation and whilst having a catch-up.

7.  Search for cheap flights online; you may just find a bargain and then boom its booked!

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