The magical land of Sark

It was my birthday, and a special one at that, because I did exactly what I wanted to do and the sun shone and my family, friends and the Beinspired community were generous and loving and the next day the boys and I headed over to one of my most favourite places on this earth - Sark

I know many of you know this, have read it before too, but to me Sark is utterly magical. There is something about the crystals and the cliffs and the flora and fauna and the lack of cars that makes it very special.

We stayed out north, in the chalet of a friend who is a yoga teacher on Sark as well as a gifted artist. It is blissfully quiet, and has a pool too, which made for extra happy boys especially in the warmer weather we have been experiencing.

There’s a well not far from where we were staying, which I was keen to explore, and I managed to make my way through the bracken and grasses, to immerse in its energy. It sits at the top of a valley and has an ethereal feel to it, as does so much of Sark, there is a certain magic. I could have sat there for hours were the boys not waiting for their lunch!

I had to walk through a field here covered in chamomile, which is common in Sark and always flashes me back to the days I began my holistic journey and discovered essential oils. Chamomile was one of the first I used, great for sleep and reducing anxiety. It never ceases to amaze me how smell can take us back in time so quickly.

Elijah and I traipsed up and down to the harbour a couple of times a day, on the idea that he may jump off the wall into the sea, but really, he just wanted to look at the boats and the comings and goings of the fishermen. I didn’t really mind, there’s a ton of quartz down here, serpentine too, and a swim is a tonic for the soul amongst all that.

We made the obligatory trip down to Dixcart through that wonderful ancient valley, and I listened to the birds, I’m trying to identify them on the Merlin phone App - more chaffinches, I never realised how abundant these birds are, lots of blackbirds too. In fact it was the trip of blackbirds as they kept crossing our path.

Dixcart is a fantastic beach as many of you know. We like to go the other side of the arch, away from all the people, and the boys jump the rocks over there. At certainly times of the year this is an easy place to skinny dip, but not today with a visiting boat and lots of visitors.

We took our time sorting our bikes up at Stocks. I’m biased of course as I run a retreat here (next one is at the end of September) but it does have such a peaceful and laid back energy and I love looking at the flowers. I managed to capture a shot of one of the many butterflies abundant on the island currently.

There was the obligatory trip to Caragh’s too, part of my bargaining to get them over to Little Sark, Eben especially. Mind you, there’s now the Snack Shack on Little Sark which is fast becoming a popular spot to stop and replenish on the walk to the Venus Pool and Silver mines. We were headed to the dolmen, but I had to bargain with Eben - a fruit ice pop.

It was hot. And it’s a long way to the dolmen for little legs. But we did it and made the most of the shade. It’s such a friendly dolmen, always a delight to make it here, right out the end of Little Sark. The cycle back was not so easy going with the little legs complaining, and more bargaining had to take place.

I think we were all relieved to make it back to the shade of the Avenue and a break from the moaning! But they did well, the boys, and I love having this time with them on my own, very special.

I received Reiki while on Sark, a birthday treat, with Paula, one of my Reiki Masters who is very gifted, intuitively. It was strange being on the receiving end, in the Venus room at Stocks, but wonderful too, thank you Paula, you certainly have a gift and I highly recommend to anyone visiting Sark - Paula does massage too, and teaches yoga.

Sark always gifts something new, more tracks we now can use, and we finally met the man who has the dog we call Licky, who is actually called Pepper, these things matter.

I also caught the most stunning sunrise, still wired to the solar energy since before the solstice, and was lucky to see the waning gibbous moon too.

I’m always sad to leave Sark. And Guernsey always feels so busy, the traffic especially. We are so lucky to have such a magical place on our doorstep.

I highly recommend a trip - a true tonic for the soul.

Love Emma