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It’s no coincidence that Father’s Day sits so close to International Yoga
Day in the annual calendar, writes Meg Jackson
MY DAD, MY GURU
T
his year (at least in the UK and the USA) we celebrate
Father’s Day on June 18. It’s also the month for
International Yoga Day (June 21). A few years ago the
two coincided on the same day, and so I wrote the
following article and popped it on my blog.
To be honest it’s my favourite thing I’ve ever written. Not because
it got oodles of clicks. Not because I got lots of nice comments
on it. Not even because of the look on my dad’s face when I read
it out to him, even though it was wonderful. But because my mum
told me afterwards that when they had gone to bed, he secretly
made her read it out to him twice more because it meant so much
to him. (He had a horrible, cruel eye condition, which had ruined
his sight so much that he could no longer see to read.)
On November 25, 2015 my wonderful, kind, hilarious, brilliant
dad decided that he was done delighting everyone he met on this
mortal plain, and he died.
I’m not going to go on about how truly heart-breaking it is to
lose someone you couldn’t love more if you tried. I don’t even have
the words, for a start. I haven’t been able to read this until today,
and I’m happy to admit I’m having a little cry now. But now I live my
life to make him proud – and he was proud of me. I know that now.
So it just feels right that as we embark on this month of
celebrating the amazing gifts that our dads bring into our lives –
and perhaps the gifts that yoga has brought to our lives too – that
I share this with you.
Whoever you have in your life who is a father figure for you –
someone who gives you the grounding to grow higher, the wisdom
to realise you must never stop learning, and the guidance to be
the best version of you possible – please tell them how much you
appreciate them. Whether it’s on Father’s Day, International YogaDay, or just a normal Tuesday – tell them.
Okay. Here goes. (Remember, this dates back to 2015, when
Father’s Day and International Yoga Day – the very first one, no
less – fell on the same day, June 21, 2015)...To celebrate the first global day of bendiness there’s lots of stuff
going on in London, but I can’t go to any of it because I’m visiting
my dad in The Shire. When I realised I was missing a heap of free
yoga-tastic stuff I’ll admit I was a bit miffed. (Even though, I hasten
to add, I have chosen to come and visit him, so it’s entirely my
own fault. But we all know that reason has no role to play when we
choose to feel hard done by.)
But it’s actually perfect that International Yoga Day and Father’s
Day happen together – because my dad is my guru. And here’s why:1 He is happy in my true happiness
I’ve made some interesting life choices. Many of which, I know,
he has accepted with a total and utter sense of confusion as he
watched me do the exact opposite as to what he thought would
be the most sensible option. But all those times I’ve gone to him
feeling that I was about to let him down by making yet another
leap from a frying pan into what might be a blazing inferno, his
response has always been the same, “as long as you’re happy.” And
it’s because of that constant, unwavering sense of support and
never-ending belief in me, I’ve found the courage to grow into the
person I am today.2 He wants nothing for himself
My dad is the most difficult person in the world to buy presents
for – and not because his wish list is worse than Mariah Carey’s