Like many women my age, I work full time, have a mortgage and life can get very busy. To reconnect and focus, I joined a yoga class early this year. Then somewhere in between downward dog and child’s pose, I took a deeper look at the direction my life was heading. Rather than wanting to work my way up in my career, get a promotion or wanting a bigger home or new car, I found myself wanting a simpler life. A life style where I am more involved in my community and more respectful to the way I tread on this planet. For many years I have dreamt of self sufficiency, simplicity, local food networks, community, compassion and a lifestyle more in tune with our earth. Yes! But how am I to jump off the train? Where am I to start, how will I ever begin and is this dream achievable or fanciful?

Then I came across Girls on Top: the women, the mountain, Ladakh, the challenge. This was my opportunity to make a start. A challenge which will test me, give me courage, provide an experience I can draw from and an opportunity to ‘learn from Ladakh’. Ladakh is a place of interconnectivity, where traditionally the Ladakhi’s hold a strong reverence for the earth and their communities. A place where people lived within their means and this provided contentment and happiness in their lives. Perhaps they will see how I value their traditional way of life. Perhaps Ladakh will inspire me to make the move toward a more ecological and community orientated way of life.

I shaped my fundraiser around these ideals to start me in the right direction. Through yoga I brought my community together to share a compassionate day, a day which focused on the simple things and on the all important self. This is my start on a long trail but hopefully one with a smaller ecological footprint.