Meet Colette, we met back in 2013 working as British Cycling Breeze ride leaders. Ten years later I invited her on a heart-shaped route to help her ride inwards and get clarity on her 2023 intentions! Step 1: Follow your heart First we sat on a sun filled bench and took some gentle mindful breaths to help settle into our bodies. We then searched for any 'punctures' using my NEW wheel of life activity sheet (see below). This led to Colette realising her tyre was a little flat around community, and just how much she wanted to pump it up. Ironically I had the same sort of puncture! We then listened to my heartful ride meditation and had a pleasant conversation (in our heads) with our ideal self. It's a lovely way to start your ride as it really helps to reinforce your intention, or sometimes shed light on things you may have been previously unaware of. INNER RIDE QUESTION Looking at the wheel of life, can you notice any punctures in your life? What area needs pumping up the most? If you need some help getting clarity, listen to my Heartful Ride Meditation on Insight Timer or download it here. "I love what you are doing and how you're creating a greener and sustainable way of living. I enjoyed our day and found that creating my own affirmations really helped me to focus and move forward. I feel more able to make clearer decisions for myself now, thank you"! Step 2: Location Furzton lake in Milton Keynes, England. A beautiful lake surrounded by swans, ducks… and dinosaurs! It's also part of the route 51 cycle network that leads you all the way to Oxford. INNER RIDE QUESTION: Where would you like to cycle your heart out? Once you've chosen your country and place, take some time to collect physical maps / online maps. If your route is in the UK, try looking on the Sustrans website for advice on bicycle friendly paths in your chosen area. Step 3: Create your heart route I first made this 2.7 mile route when I started riding heart routes as part of my morning routine. I found it was a great way to start the day and help reinforce your intentions. After over 11 years in 10 countries of making heart routes, I can honestly say that the Milton Keynes redway maps are the best to use when it comes to finding heart routes! INNER RIDE QUESTION: Need help with your heart route? Here are my top 3 tip:
Remember your heart routes don't need to be perfect, because neither is life! Step 4: Cycle Your Heart Out Before we rode I suggested Colette write down a short affirmation about how she wishes her community to be. Repeating this to yourself before your route is such a powerful way to bring your intention to life. Always write it in the present as if it's already true, for example: "I have a loving supportive community and I feel like I belong" Once we had set off we then tuned into our 5 senses as it's such a simple way to ground yourself and enjoy the present moment. As we rode we soaked in the sounds of the chatty ducks, views of the sun bouncing off the lake, the cold sensation of the winter air on our cheeks, the smell of the half naked trees, and the taste of coffee on our lips. Here were some of the highlights along the route: Dinosaur Valley for scary crazy golf Sul Lago Restaurant one of the best places for pizza in Milton Keynes! Tattenhoe Valley for traffic free peaceful cycling and walking trails INNER RIDE QUESTION: How about you? Do you have an affirmation you'd like to write down and repeat along your route? Try practicing the 5 senses activity and see how it makes you feel, look for 5 things you can see, 4 things you can hear, 3 things you can touch, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste. Step 5: Spread the love After the route we practiced my 'Heartful world' meditation (coming soon) which is based on the well known loving kindness meditation. This is one of my favourite practices as it's all about sending compassion to those you love, strangers, those you find difficult, and every living being. Sharing your route with loved ones and your community is a beautiful way to spread the loving energy that you created on your route, and a great way to bring your ride affirmation to life! Colette lives in Houghton Regis and is hoping to grow her community around here and central Bedfordshire in England. Here are 5 ways you can expand your community today:
INNER RIDE QUESTION: Have you created your heart route? Awesome! Now choose 3 loved ones or communities you'd like to share it with to inspire them too! Are you also wanting to grow your community? What 3 baby steps can you do today to help? Now available on Audible!
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Follow your heart
Cycle your heart out... home, to your true self
Sudden loss, dramatic change and heartbreak can shatter you to the core, and leave you with such a mix of emotions, that overwhelm engulfs you. You may feel ungrounded, insecure with zero energy, you may question your very existence, what you really want in life, who you are, and why you're even here. After many months of listening to my heartful ride meditation, one city and theme kept coming up. That saying "home is where the heart is" finally started to make sense. Deeply embedded, free from any bricks and cement, location free, lay my home, my heart. If you're going through something similar, I hope my poem rides you back home, to the doorstep of your true self.
The Ride Home
​ Ride until past pain softens and future frets fade Until your ocean breath returns And your saddle feels like home Ride with no real plan To feed your soul To find freedom To get back on the path Of yours And no one else's
Location
I rode the train to Paris from Barcelona. It only took about 6 hours and left me in the heart of the 12th arrondissement, at Gare du Lyon Station. A short walk from the station was the peaceful Coulée Verte René-Dumont, a 4.7 km elevated park built on top of an old railway track, and great for walking your dog! Me and Maya spent the first night soaking in the warm sunset along the river Seine, and the silhouette of Sainte-Chapelle. Heart route ​​A beautiful 13.95km ride right through the heart of Paris! Creating this route involved the help of some good friends, helpful strangers, a cute bike cafe, and a pinch of serendipity! To make the route I downloaded this map highlighting all the bicycle friendly paths in Paris, and then plotted out a rough heart shape. With no real knowledge of what I was riding past other than the Eiffel tower, I was happy when I showed my good friends Elodie and Astrid, who both confirmed the route goes past some of the most beautiful spots in Paris! I always love a good physical map in my hand before I ride, so I picked one up from a hotel and brought heart route 46 to life!! ​​ Click here to view the the heart route on Strava! Cycle Your Heart Out The morning of my ride I was walking Maya along the Coulée Verte René-Dumont Park searching for a bike to rent on Google maps as the local bike app did not seem to want to work on my phone. At that moment I luckily bumped into a lady called Lorraine from Australia! She recommended a bike cafe called Le Peloton who also rent bikes! When I arrived I was served by a lovely lady called Julia from Barcelona. She was super helpful with renting me a bike with a basket for Maya, and also gave me tips of places to eat along my route. Highlights -Jardin du Luxembourg -Fontaine de l'Observatoire -Cycling along the beautiful river Seine through the 1st and 8th arrondissement -The Eiffel tower heart balloon photographer! -Finding Maya’s twin! @ourslespitz -Ending the ride on the river for sunset -Seeing the Notre dam lit up at night
Spread the Love
-Elodie from Paris, my sister from another Mr! For our beautiful friendship around the world, Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, Barcelona and now Paris! For reminding me to run with wolves, and remember my worth. For showing me the beautiful Parc de Belleville by night. It has the most incredible views of Paris, and the area was also the hometown of La Vie en Rose singer Edith Piaf!
Food and drink: - Thanks to Fabian and Ely at L'Ébouillanté restaurant, their salmon crepe was divine! -Lou Pascalou - try their cheese board! Inner Ride Question
What can you do today to help get you back on
​your own path?
After an intense period of change or loss, it's quite common to feel anxious, ungrounded and lost. Finding ways to cope led me to reconnect even more with my mind, body and soul. Here are some of the ways that helped ground me and get back on my own path:
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FREE GIFTIf you'd like some help riding inwards, click below to download your FREE meditation. (You can also follow and listen to me on the Insight Timer app) |
I've known Vanessa since the moment I landed in Barcelona back in 2013. Not only has she been an amazing friend, but she's also been an incredible mentor for me over the years, and a source of motivation in publishing my first book. It was a joy to cycle my heart out with her today and help her ride inwards!
Follow your heart
Cycle Your Heart Out for… Abundance!
“This ride is about putting love into all the things I do and creating positive things from it. I also thought it would be a beautiful way to celebrate my birthday!
Location
Barceloneta, Barcelona, Spain
Heart Route
A simple 4.6km ride, click here for the map on Strava
Cycle Your Heart Out
Highlights:
What I love about this route is how it goes from a peaceful paradise near the W hotel, to the chaotic and busy Barceloneta center!
Highlights:
-Salt Beach Club
-San Sebastian Beach
-Plaça Del Poeta Boscà
-Marina Port Vell
Spread the love
Vanessa works in both English and Spanish, so if you’re a non-fiction writer and need help making your brand and books shine, contact Vanessa at Branding for Writers or on Linkedin.
Have a listen and dance to one of Vanessa's favorite songs by Axel - Celebra La Vida, which is all about celebrating life!
How can you create more abundance in your life today?
Cycle your heart out and recharge!
Cave kayaking to hidden beaches, cycling to fishing villages, and of course, heart shaped riding! These were just some of the fun ways we decided to reboot our frazzled batteries this spring.
Wanting to spend more time with loved ones and my soul this year also made me cut down on all that was zapping my precious time and energy. I realised just how much I needed to stop social media scrolling and instead focus more on what makes my heart sing! More time for painting, spontaneous adventures, and uninterrupted time with loved ones!
It's also my debut book's 1 st Birthday next month so I wanted to offer your a FREE GIFT as a thank you for all your support! Keep reading to find out more ;-)
Location
Lagos, Portugal
Bike rental: Coast Supply Co
Accommodation: Porto Mós Sunplace hotel
Heart route
Length: 6.09 km (view map)
After adapting the bike route suggestions from coasts website we were able to create a relatively flat route which goes past some of the best viewpoints in Lagos.
Cycle Your Heart Out
Highlights:
- Ponta da piedade, amazing photo spot of all the caves
- Kayak tours: secluded beaches of Praia da Balanca and the love cave! (see photo below)
- Restaurants: O António in Porto de Mós beach, Ala do Castelo in the old town (try their delicious arroz de marisco), Lucas rooftop in Camilo Beach, which is also called the "the stairway to heaven " with it's 200 wooden steps
Spread the Love
- Tiago from Kayak Tours for showing us the beauty of Lagos by Kayak. Weaving in between the stunning caves was honestly breathtaking. The best way to explore Lagos by sea.
- Richard and Joshua from CoastSupply Co for recommending the best bike paths around Lagos! Their trekking bikes were super comfortable and easy to ride up all those hills! Definitely recommend to anyone planning a visit here.
- Nora & Jose for looking after our dog Maya. It was the first time we were both away from her but she was in amazing hands and got lots of love and cuddles!
How can you stop and recharge your batteries today? ​
I'll share with you occasional updates on my heart route adventures, future books, meditations and freebies. My plan is that these emails feed your soul and help you to ride inwards, allowing you to live life more mindfully.
Enter your email below to join my heartful cycling community!
You'll also receive a FREE CHAPTER from my debut book
​'Cycle Your Heart Out: Around Your Inner World'
Tree trunks into the sky
Emerald green leaves
Golden sunlight slicing through
Kissing the earth
The flowers
My face
Soothing sounds of a nearby stream
Birds in a peaceful choir
The crunch of winter beneath my wheels
No one to guide me
Just the well trodden path
And the call from within
That whispers welcome home
After reading 'Light Is The New Black' by Rebecca Campbell, my heart led me to the forest to spend more time listening to the call from within.
Cycle Your Heart Out for... your soul!
Location
Next to the Montseny National Park. Located in the quiet town of Sant Esteve de Palautordera, only a 1 hour train and cycle from Barcelona, so no car necessary! Perfect for me as I still can't drive!
Heart Route
After picking up a map from tourist information, I sat down on the grass and started noticing all the beautiful paths that I'd hiked the previous 2 days. Within minutes my heart route had appeared, a great mix of the town, nature and forest! An easy 4.52km heart, all flat and mostly on bike paths.
Cycle Your Heart Out
Highlights:
Accomodation: Hotel Somlom ECO & Wellness Lodge
Bike Hire: Fesbici
Coffee break: Bar LANAU
Kalart Co-living and Co-Working: A unique space for remote workers and digital nomads with yoga, meditations and other holistic events on the weekends
Montseny National Park: A stunning natural park and UNESCO Biosphere Reserve
Spread the love
I stayed at the peaceful Hotel Somlom ECO & Wellness Lodge next to the Montseny National Park.
On my first night I danced my heart out in their belly dancing class, and they kindly lent me a yoga mat so I could practice in the comfort of my own room. I arrived with no clue of the area so I was really grateful for the kind staff who patiently showed me all the best cycling and hiking paths.
Thank you to Davinia and everyone who worked at Hotel Somlom! I gave the hotel a copy of my book so that anyone who visits can enjoy flicking through the pages while they wait for their yoga class or massage!
Hi I'm Sarah the Heartful cyclist, author and poet
I'm so glad you found me, and would love to invite you on a ride through your own inner world.
Click below to order my debut book, download your FREE meditation, and learn how to be a heartful cyclist too! |
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