Adventures of a Yogi

In this episode I chat with Yogi Adventurer Dianne Benson. We chat about yoga, meditation, travel, India, Animal communication and Dianne's new life in France
 
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Transcript

Liz Hill: 0:09

Hi, this is Liz and welcome to my podcast, spiritually Speaking with Liz. I've got a really exciting guest v today, but before we start, I'd just like to remind you to subscribe to the YouTube channel to follow on your podcast app. Our podcast and then you'll get the notifications of when new ones come up. Today we've got the gorgeous Diane Benson. So I'm just gonna read my little notes cuz I forget because she's diverse. Wait while you hear this. So I like to call her Yogi adventurer Diane Benson. So Diane has been moving. Well, she's had many incarnations in this lifetime. I would say from the head of geography at the International School of Milan, to being a private tutor for two children living between America, Kenya, and London. She's been 18 years in America. Working mainly with animals doing spiritual healing, Reiki animal communication, and then she briefly came back to teach yoga in the UK and set up her business yoga Den, which she's still carrying on now, and now she has just moved to France. Bought a fabulous place and she's living out there, living the dream, setting up a retreat and presuming, I dunno, I haven't spoken to her about this and I wanted to share it with you all then it's natural. So, Diane, welcome.

Dianne Benson: 1:37

Hello Liz. Welcome. Thank you very much for having Yon. Oh, you're so welcome. It's great to see you. So we met, uh, about four years ago, four or five years ago. Yeah. Five year, something like that. Yeah, I guess I just got back, I think from America. Yeah. So you just got back from America. You came in the shop and I recognized that what I had when I came back from Spain that. Bewilderment of being back in another country. Do I wanna be here? I'm not sure I've come back because I feel I've had to comeback type thing. You had, didn't you? That's right. It's a shock for sure. Yeah. Yeah. I, I would imagine that, so I don't know where to start with you because I, there's so many things that we've, uh, touched on, but never like truly explored. So you started your spiritual path when you were 19. Way before that, but Oh, was it before then? Go on then you tell me. Yeah. So I don't know whether everybody's heard of this, but um, there's something called highly sensitive people. And, you know, we are born into that state and, and I was born into a, being a, a highly sensitive person, really empathic and intuitive. And, and of course as a child you don't know that. Um, and we live in a society that's quite brutal. you know, it's not easy to be sensitive in this very, uh, quite aggressive fast world. Mm-hmm. So the spiritual journey, I think, started very young with, uh, my connections to animals because animals were calmer and, uh, quieter and, and more truthful than, you know, innately truthful compared to humans who were quite noisy and aggressive and fast. And, so I had that very deep connection quite early on to presence with animals. and then, you know, um, just trying to survive in the world of people and everything. You, you go from one thing to another. Um, so the, the whole spiritual journey started very early. but then it, obviously, it's developed considerably over all the external, experiences I've had. Yeah, of course. So let's jump to age 19. Yeah. Go into India, which obviously. Peak lane train. Yeah. Yeah. So tell me about that. How long did you go for and what was it like? Right. Well, I, I, 18, I took myself off to Jersey. I'd never been anywhere in my life or really, and I just took myself off to Jersey. I didn't tell anybody I was going, I didn't, didn't say a word. I just got a train, got a ferry, and went to Jersey for some reason. And then when I came back, I told my sister and she said, well, let's go traveling. And, and I said, okay, where should we go? Hmm, let's go to India. You know, I'd never even thought about India. I wasn't into yoga. I'd never had any knowledge or anything. Um, so I'm a, a real believer in following your heart as a real theme of my life. And there's a calling. For some reason you don't understand it. You don't know it, you don't even know why you're having these things. These thought. But you just do, you know, you just act on it. So we went to India, we had, um, a small backpack and few hundred pounds in our pockets, a return flight, and that's all we had. We had no plans, no hotels booked. Yeah, and this was like 33 years ago, so it was not commercial like it is now. Oh my God. When people say to me, there's internet and, and all these things and hotels, and I think, oh my gosh, that, yeah, there was just nothing like that. We, you know, in, in Nepal you're having nettle soup and potato, raw potato soup. That's some rancid potato they find somewhere, or, uh, so we landed in Bombay. As it was and Mumbai, and we traveled down south and all the way to the tip and all the way around, and we were on trains and mud huts and railway stations and backpacking hostels that were so rough in that day. Oh my gosh. And oh, terrible. I have this aversion to fleas and things like that in the night cause of backpacking in India and it's just, um, But you know, when I was 19, I was so shy and quite very quiet and, um, and, and inexperienced in life. So I had no idea how much had impacted me, um, psychologically, spiritually, and, uh, physically as well. But yeah, I came back a very different person as a 19 year old and we were there three months in India, um, a month in Nepal tracking in the Himalayas. Wow. And then on the way home, we actually slept on the beach in Turkey for a month just to coop a month. Yeah, I know. We got a job on a beach. We put, we slept in a tent and got a job on a cafe on the beach, and we just stayed. Oh, wow. But you know, in India, that's where the spiritual side of it really kicked up because even though I didn't. Realize at the time, that's where the Hinduism, the Buddhism, the Daoism, the, you know, the, the passion for cultures and, and the wisdom of different cultures around the world, but especially the Daoism for me, that that was the, the flow, the way of the life. Um, and I, when I look back, it's definitely where it started. Yeah. Mm-hmm. But I didn't get into yoga. Then Everyone thinks we'll go to India for yoga. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well you went, you went more for the mind aspect and the um, well, people don't seem to understand that. They think that yoga is just as a practice, they don't realize that it's the eight limbs. So you, well, it's. It's the, you know, in the western world, that's what we focus on, the physical body. But in India and, and in the east and traditionally, you know, it is to strengthen the mind. So that helps the body to become strong and, and vice versa as well, but, But I was never into the physical aser for years later. Um, it, for me, it was always that connection to spirit, to God, to, to the earth, um, and, and each other and, and our footprint in the world really. Yeah, for sure. So then you came. When you came to Asana practice mm-hmm. That was through, um, pain you'd said. So what was it? Yeah, I, you know, when I was in America, I, I've lived a very extraordinary life, but, and because of that I have lots of injuries. Um, You know, I've fallen off rock climbing falls, I've had falls off horses, off mountains off, you know, I've just got injuries right through the spine. And that's become a theme for my life really. And that's what leads me into all the alternative therapies and, and the meditation and stuff to manage, um, and cope with pain and everything that that brings the isolation. The loss of friends and social life, the changing of careers because you can't cope. Um, you know, there's a heart chakra that is heavy when you're in pain and, and then the throat chakra gets clocked up because you can't express it. And people get sick of hearing, you know that you're in pain. Get on with it. Um, so my, my world became quite isolated. Through all the degree of pain in the neck and and spine. But when I was in America, I decided, you know, that wind changed direction and I just got that grip between my teeth and said, come on girl. And, and I just decided, I bought a yoga mat and I said, I don't know what the hell this is all about. I went to a a yin yoga practice. And, um, it was very odd experience of there was no meditation for me that was like, woo. Um, and it was just this practice, but there was a connection with people that was new for me as well, you know, and, um, that energy that is created when people get together in the same consciousness and just. Be present and be honest and authentic in whatever way you are, pain or joy or whatever it is. So it was an extraordinary experience. And again, not just for the physical, but for the psyche side of, of yoga and to experience all the physical yoga that helped, actually did help the body. You know, that's, uh, piques your interest when of course you're. You feel relief? Mm-hmm. Um, so over time I just went back a few times and started reading and studying and, and it was just obvious that I've, you know, was, had the calling to, to take the practice further and see if I could teach. I studied under a, a lady in California who was of the Iyengar, um, lineage. Mm-hmm. Which for anybody who doesn't know, is pretty much the yoga that is focused on alignment. So as your body, you know, we go through life very unbiased in the body, and I Ien helps to realign, um, left rights ups downs. And so you practice with a, a mindfulness of correct alignment. Basically. Mm-hmm. Um, and so she was fabulous and she was alwa also a, a very joyful American, you know, and always lots of fun, which is huge for yoga. It shouldn't definitely ever be this serious. You know it, I know, but people make it that way and it's a shame. Yeah, yeah. Oh, you must have gone in a cave for years and all this sort of thing and you know, nobody can I like, I know you do. I used used to have a laugh in the classes because that's part of it. It's a relief, isn't it? Actually, it's healing. And I mean, isn't it a cliche that the more you laugh, the the healthier you are. But you know, there is, whenever I used to teach yoga, or still do, and I've never had a lesson plan, I've never, I've taught thousands of classes. Over 10 years and I've never once had a one class that's the same as the other because people walk through the door and uh, and you just can read what their aura is saying or what their physical body is needing. And quite often it's just a release of tension. Hmm. Stress. So, you know, laughter is a good thing for that. I wanted to ask you about, um, I forgot Monty Roberts. So you did the, Monty Roberts is a horse trainer. Yeah. And you did some training under him, and you said that that really opened your intuition. How, what was, yeah. What was it that brought that on? So a change in tax here for anybody who's not into, um, horses or equine knowledge of any type, it's, it's quite hard to understand the depth of perception that horses all animals do. But horses are extraordinary and they. You know, they feel and know and see and hear, and it just sense have this sensory, uh, perception. So Monty Roberts is a famous author and a horse trainer in California. And at the time I was working as a cowgirl in the Midwest of America and I was rounding cows up with no knowledge. Never been taught to ride I to just get in the saddle gear on. And, um, I was there for nearly a year as a cowgirl and I read this book by Monty Roberts and I just knew, again, the wind changed direction and I just sort of said, sorry, see ya. I gotta go. And off I drove to, from the Midwest to California to seek out this, this man because. He trains from a very gentle point of view. There's no, um, whips or beating or anything of any negative aggression technique. And there is a psyche, um, it's called join up and, you know, I don't really like to get into labels and things like that, but, um, it's using your physical body language with your mental perception to communicate with horses. And when you stare a horse in the eye, it's quite aggressive as in move back. But if you lower your shoulder and your eyes away, that's come on in. Um, there's this whole Equis language that is out there and it is incredible. So I, I tru trundled off him a mini Cooper to California and, uh, I, you know, right place, right time, his PA was just leaving. And I said, I'm, I'm homeless, I'm a college. So I stayed on his farm, working as his PA eventually, and I trained in all his, uh, join up and long lining techniques on the farm in California. And, uh, it was extraordinary, but. What was even more important for me was when you are a highly sensitive or just a quiet person and you take the time to be with a horse or animals and you just still and hear and see and listen. You know, there's a whole connection there that is way beyond the physical or the, or the verbal. So I started to develop the, the psychic abilities quite strongly. And the first time it happened, um, I was hand walking a horse every day for half an hour from for injuries rehab. And I just started to stop talking. I started to telepathically communicate and just, you know, talk to the horse that way. And she showed me a picture of a fall with a black, a, a white, uh, hof. I mean, um, a fetlock, a white fetlock ankle at the back. And this mare hadn't been pregnant, and neither was she going to be pregnant, according to the owner. So I told the owner, luckily that about this image I'd, I'd seen Anyhow, a year later this mayor had had a fall and the owner texted me to say she's just had a black fall with a white backfeed lock. And, uh, wow. And, you know, and, and those experiences were over and over and over again. Too many to talk about, but we all have this ability. We all have that ability to, to use your mind in such a bigger range of, um, thought than what we do. Uh, we are just lazy. We don't train it. It it's true or we just ignore it because yes, we've got to be being, not being so we need to be d being, but we've got to be doing and active all the time. And it's not, I've, I've seen you with prayer obviously, and. How, how you are anyway, cuz you're a very gentle person. But with her it, I found it really interesting because you were doing that sort of, I'm sure it's different and excuse my ignorance, but they, you sat down, you didn't go and sit next to her or anything. Yeah. You sat down and then slowly she came to you. Yeah, well that's, you know, one of the biggest things I'm really, um, passionate about is just patience and compassion and and respect of somebody's space. So, If somebody, if a stranger comes up to me and they are in my space, then I'm not too happy about that. It, it is, uh, you know, it, it depends on their energy. Of course. You know, I've had hugs from people that I've not known and it's fine, but animals are very sensitive and to honor somebody's space or some creature's space and allow them. To make the decision for themselves whether they want to be next to me or not. You know, that's a different energy completely than me intrusion and assuming that because I'm human, you will be with me. So to have that respect and honor of, of another, uh, creature, another person is, is quite big, and that that comes through into the reiki. Now I'm a reiki master, and I did that in California as well. But I trained in England to start with. And again, when you're working with people, it's the same thing. You, you don't just barge in there just because you've got a right to be there. You, you invite somebody into your space or, or an animal. It's, it's very true. Very true. Yeah. And that perfectly leads me on a, another tangent. One of the things that I didn't know this about you and when, when you sent your blurb over, like I asked and you told me that you've been, uh, studying or actually been with. A lot of, um, different tribes. Mm. How, how did that, tell me, how did that style, who and where and when and Yeah. I, you know, I dunno. I think again, it goes back to an early age of, um, I actually think my parents were instigate in this because we didn't have much money growing up. We were a Yorkshire working class family, and, but we were always on adventures. And you know, dad would always take us and teach us about trees and birds, and mom would always be, you know, we'd be out there adventuring, just locally. And I think that's where it comes from just to, to see, are we there yet? What's over that hill? You know, around that corner and. So the, the traveling when I went to India, obviously started it. I saw different colored people, different people wearing strange clothing and um, and eating strange things. And so that started the, the wisdom with a Hinduism and Buddhism and Doism. But there again, it's the philosophy of tribal people that has always fascinated me and. Again, it goes with the reiki and the horse work and the, uh, alternative therapists. There's a gentleness and a connection to working with rather than fighting against. And when you look at tribal people around the world, there is that. Um, working with the environment, working with each other, and it's not, uh, you know, women were very powerful, weren't they in tribal uh, communities. They're the sh the healers and the teachers and the mothers and the grandmothers and the wise ones, um, and the warriors. But it's fascinating just to, yeah, I, I led an expedition to South Africa, um, in 1990. Seven or eight or nine, somewhere around there. And it was sponsored by the Royal Geographical Society and I, I got a team of six people, scientists from university and we went out to a community in Zulu, Zulu, Naar in South Africa. And we studied, um, their water sort where they got their water sources from. So we created this huge map. And we learned basic, uh, pigeon Zulu and mm-hmm. And we got invited to all sorts of Zulu traditions and, uh, celebrations and, you know, there's no white people, there's no roads, there's no electricity, there's no running water. Um, mud huts and rols. Um, and, and so, you know, it just goes on and on and on from one country to another. Seeking out. The most native people, the most, um, traditional people that I could find. And I think where it really kicked off was when I was a geography teacher. It, it was, I was a passionate teacher because of the earth. Um, but what I realized is that not all children like me as a child, not all children can either afford to or they don't have the opportunities. To, to really travel and see the things that are in these textbooks. So I made it my, um, teaching life mission that every summer holiday I would go to places that I used to teach about. And bring back archives and slides and photographs and traditional things, clothing and all sorts of, you know, things like that to make it real for, for children that couldn't get to these places. So my class always. Yeah, exactly. And music, you know, I'd bring back traditional music, like in Australia, I'd bring back the, uh, did redo and the um, and so my classroom was full of native music and native instruments. And yeah, it was just packed with geography. That was life real, proper geography. Um, and so that became a real passion to just fulfill that. How exciting though, for the students because yeah, there's nothing, well, for me, that would've made me. Sit up and, and listen and look to, to have something that this instrument is from, this clothing, this, you know, bedspread, whatever it is, is from this place. It's like you, Liz, when you go to India, you come back with all these things and it just brings your shop to life. You're not just a close shop or a, or a gift shop. It, it is India, you know, because it's authentic. Thank you. Well, that's, yeah, it, to me that is, and it, it's my home outta India. Yeah, exactly. It, it just brings it to the people, you know? So, gives them that feeling. Yeah. So, so when, when I, sorry to, to carry on, but when I went to university, I, uh, went on an expedition to, um, Iceland with a disabled man. He had cerebral palsy and. He wanted to make a, an independent crossing from Southwest, right through the interior, past the vat, Yoko, uh, Glassio, right to the northeast, into the Arctic. So I was part of the backup crew driving the Land Rover and supporting him. So that started that sort of role. Into that area. And then when I was at university, I specialized in glaciation of all things. So I went to Greenland for a month and slept on, uh, slept in a tent right next to the ice sheet in Greenland. Yeah, I was pretty calm, cold. And I had this down jacket that was huge little nose poking out of this down jacket. Um, but you know, to study the movement of glaciation. Now what was fabulous about that, that anybody who knows anything about glassier, they move millimeters a year or re or retreat fast. But you know, their forward movement can be millimeters if, if less or more. Um, so when it comes to stillness and presence, and absolutely. Being alive with stimulation of your nervous system. Um, Greenland was absolutely up there top notch for me. I would sit on a rock in the middle of the ice sheet, you know, just on the edge, not in the middle, obviously on the edge of the ice sheet. I'd just sit in the rock and there was only four of us there, you know, and, um, No, the noise is, you know, it's the wind or the creaking of the ice as it moves, or a bird going by a taigan or something or, but the stillness and the presence, you know, it's geo, it was incredible. And that like the horses, the glassier in an in Greenland really heightened that alertness awareness. Yeah. Everything, everything's brought you around sort of a full circle really, hasn't it? It always, always comes back to presence, stillness, meditation, and, and just being alive in this world, you know, that there is not an any worse feeling, I think, than being stuck, you know? Heart stuck, throat stuck, communication stuck, career stuck, relationship stuck. You know, it's just a, an unlawful experience for the body in the nervous system, and you mind, so I just really believe that you don't ignore, you don't sort of try and pretend it's not there. But you just allow it, allow it to come up, allow it to surface itself, and then when it's had its time, kick it up the butt and say, right on your way, it's time to move forward and, and do something, make a decision. So, you know, I've always had that sort of attitude of, um, It doesn't matter if it's the wrong decision, cuz you can always change it later, but make a decision. Yeah, no, I like that because people become stuck because of their own fears. They don't move past the anxiety. They don't move past the fear. Exactly. So they stay in that stuckness, which is. Way more than any fear, in my opinion. Yeah, well it is. And that, and for the, you know, when you talk about yoga and, um, the stagnation, you know, for the internal organs and, and the nervous system and, and it's all usually down to fear of stepping outside of what's normal or what's familiar or what's easy. I mean, How many times I've heard it through my life. I chose not to have children. It's not something that just happened to me. I chose not to do it, um, because I wanted to live this type of life. Mm-hmm. And, um, it, it really has always been something where I've come back and people have said, oh, you're so lucky. I wish I could do that. And I think. You know what? There's nothing to do with luck. I don't even believe in, look, there isn't such a thing. You make it happen. Mm-hmm. You have a thought, you have a feeling and you do something about it. Well, you say yes, don't you? Yes. The door knock open and say, yeah, where we going and what we doing? Yes, exactly. Yeah, totally. And I, I get it, Liz. You know, people aren't peop it's hard when you have a career, a job and children, a mortgage and you know, I'm not judging anybody. I, I've just chosen this life for me because I want to give back so much. And, and that's, that's my way of, um, I don't have children to give to, but I wanna give back to people in general. Yeah, I get that same, I totally agree with that. So on a daily, Practice. What do you do day-to-day? What is your must-dos for you? For yo for yoga? You mean just everything? What do you, what are, what are your daily practices that help you? Yoga as well, and meditation. But what, what I, in what form do you do them and, and what else do you do? Right. Um, so actually, uh, I really love to, um, when I rise in the morning, well, remember I'm teaching Zoom two or three classes a day, so that's pretty prominent in my routine. Um, so I like to rise in the morning and, um, if it's sunny outside or, or at least warm, I get outside with a cup of tea. Just to feel the groundedness of the earth and, and the, and whatever was going on in the atmosphere, the, the wind, the cold, the sun, whatever. Um, I like to just have a little bit of stillness with a cup of tea and let Dakota dog do his stuff, you know? Mm-hmm. Um, and then I usually teach, um, and then I like to, uh, have. My breakfast is always important because, you know, your mom always says it's the most important meal of the day, so I still have that breakfast routine. Um, and sometimes it's a piece of fruit and sometimes it's a great big mound of something or other. Um, and then I always, uh, take Dakota for a long walk. So after yoga, um, I, I, there's a yoga routine, there's a meditation outside usually. And then, um, I take Dakota for his walk. And right now it's different because I'm here in France, but, um, I usually get into the garden and do some hacking back or, or work there, building something or other. And then I teach again in the evening. Um, and, and then after that I always like the fire. So no matter what time of night it is. By the time I finish, I like the fire. I curl up with Dakota Dog and my book, I read a lot, I write a lot. And um, I like to just totally chill in the evening. I like the candles and the incense and uh, um, so that's sort of like, at the moment it's very different because I'm here, but. Um, when I was at home, I was running from one, I was teaching private yoga and zoom yoga, and I was at different sports clubs and health clubs and studios, so I was all over the place, backwards and forwards, and that was the routine. So here there's a lot of stillness and I don't go anywhere unless I choose to. And so the outside is a dominant factor for my life at the moment. And what led you there? What were the breadcrumbs that took you there? Um, well, About 15 years ago, I tried to start retreats. Um, not just yoga, but um, I don't like these labels, these spiritual retreats, yoga retreats. I, I hate them. They're just escape places to go to remember our humanity, you know, talk to each other, have a, some experience that moves you. Um, and that's what I wanted always to create. And I've got a lot of experiences from all my, uh, travels and journeys around the world and spiritually, and I wanted to always to pass them on and to share. So when I was in America, I've tried two or three times to start retreats and on co Of course, when it's on somebody else's property, they either sell up or they kick you off or there's a problem or, yeah. Um, so I've, I gave up really, and when I came home, um, you know, I'd been away 15 years, so the house prices had risen a little bit, so that was that out for a while. Um, and then we realized that in France we could buy a property that had four acres, an old farmhouse, and it was affordable, more affordable than a small, tiny property in Yorkshire with no land. So we decided to just do that and give up, give up. Everything that I can sell or give away and try and make it work out here. So it is hopefully, eventually it will be my base. I'm not there yet. I don't have residency, but it will be a base and we are turning it into a center for the heart and mental health, physical health, spiritual health. If you want to come and help me and dig the ground and pull weeds and uh, you know, you are very welcome. You can camp or sleep rough or at the moment, but I've always, always wanted a spiritual center that draws people in for. Healing of your heart, mind, and soul. And that does not mean sitting cross-legged serious, or that means laughing and music and campfires and eating good simple food that we've grown in the garden and, and we all cook French food and eat together with a bottle of wine or, or something. And you know, and we're hacking back during the day or we're building some structure and. You know, and we talk in the evenings and play music or art or read or you know, all of these things that just, it's just like the old days, Liz. Yeah, yeah, yeah. How brilliant a hundred years ago must have been, we actually laughed and talked. Communicated. Yeah. Yeah. So that's pretty much what we're aiming for here. And um, you know, we've made a start. The guest, the first guest bedroom will be ready in August. Ooh, book me in. Oh, how fabulous. Yeah. So before we wrap up, I'd like to ask you, this is my theme for this season, sort of what three pieces of advice as Diane now would you give to younger Diane? Gosh, That is a hard, you're, you're a tough cookie, Liz. It's a hard question cause because everything that you go through as a younger Diane, as a younger person, you know, there, that's what's led me to who or what I am today. So it's a challenging question. Um, but I would say, uh, Instead of hiding away in the sensitivity and the shyness and the quietness of who, my soul, my spirit, my person is, just try and be brave about it and, and honor it rather than hide it. Mm-hmm. You know, just be who you are. It doesn't matter. Just be honest and kind and good. And it doesn't matter who, who or what you are. So stop hiding from the shyness. Get out there. I love that. I don't know. Yeah, and um, well, it's a silly one and it only relates to me really, but in this whole journey through alternative therapies and the pain journey that I've experienced for 20, 25 years, it has directed the course of my life. And it all started with falling off a rock climb. In 1997, I was leading a rock climb and I fell and hit with ground and, um, and I, I just adjusted my vertebrae, my neck. So at the time I was a Yorkshire girl, I was tough cookie, you know, I brushed myself down and so get on with it. Um, but that was definitely that moment. Steered my life. So as a young Diane, I would say get yourself to the chiropractor immediately. Don't wait nine years for your body to get into such a bad condition. Um, so anybody who's had whiplash falls, um, anything at all that, that creates a sort of jarring of the neck or back. I would say go see osteopath chiropractors or anybody that, um, can just realign that spine because the spine is the center of all our health. And uh, that's big thing I would say to Diana the young. And lastly, I probably would say sitting here in this pretty chilly French farmhouse in Normandy. Cause I only have a long burner as. When you are in your French classes at school, you should have paid attention. I would say learn French as a child instead of, that's all I could remember isn't I would've paid attention and got my level, my eye level. Oh, that is so funny. But it it is, it's so true. Is that, Yeah, there's, it's made me think with you saying about the spine. Have you ever read the book? I can't remember what it's called, but she was called Vanda Scarelli? No. She got to yoga in her. Oh. I can't remember whether she was late sixties or late eighties, but she was very, she she was saying that you are only as old as your spine is flexible. Exactly. Yeah. That is a very yogi, yes. Lots of yogi sort of talks as about that, that, you know, I, over these years I have learned so much about the spine and, and all. That it is connected to in our bodies and our minds. And you know, it, it blows my mind that, uh, doctors and, uh, and I'm not knocking doctors, they're fantastic, but they don't have this, um, talk about the spine. They, it's everything. Your nervous system is so interconnected into it and. You know, your digestive system, your organs, your, your psychological state, your emotional state, and now, you know, at 54 menopausal state, oh, please, you know, the spine is absolutely central, literally, and, and metaphorically to. The health of our being and you are only as old as your spine, which mm-hmm. Unfortunately. Yeah, it's very true. Awakening the spine. The book's called, it Just Popped. Okay, I'll check it out. Thanks. Check it out. Yeah. Well, on that note, thank you so much for joining me. You're welcome. I'm gonna put all your details, like your social media details in the show notes so people can get in touch. So maybe people might want to volunteer. With doing with any building works or decorating or gardening. Absolutely. Yeah. Thank you. And one of the, I, I know you've finished, but one of the, um, philosophies that I'm running here on the farm in France is I have done all these adventures around the world and all these extraordinary things, and I've never really had any money to say anything about. I've worked, I've earned it. I've, um, you know, I've, I've created that through hard work, but I've also volunteered my time a lot. So when I was, I was on a five month meditation retreat in Montana, an intensive, and that was$10,000 and I didn't have that. Wow. So I, you know, people from all over America were there. All paying this money for 6, 5, 6 months. So I said, well, I can cook and I can clean and I can do this, and I can. I volunteered my time for five months. I was there free, I worked and I got to experience five months intensive meditation teacher training. So that's what I would like to offer here. Um, there are lots of people who have lots of skills. The the, um, Sort of incorporating you. Come here if you want to put, pitch your tent on the grass outside. There's a toilet, there's a shower, I'll feed you. Um, but obviously you work and, um, And we do yoga. We'll, we'll do whatever you can have days off to the beach. Um, so obviously it can be vetted and it's not, I don't want hoards of people in here, but, um, it is there that will be communicated in my Facebook and Instagram post, so, perfect. My listen, my listeners are fabulous, so they'll, but they'll be good. Don't worry about it. Yeah, good stuff. Great. They're, yeah. Oh, Diane, thank you so much for joining me. Welcome guys. Don't miss out on going to see Diane. She's a very special person and I know what she creates will just be fabulous. So don't miss. Thank you, Liz. Yeah, thanks for having me on your show Liz you're very welcome, and thank you Diane. Thank you guys for joining us and I'll be back again with another fabulous guest very soon. Thanks, bye.