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Mindful Living, Mindful Being: residential retreat

• Melt away your stress

• Calm your anxiety

• Skyrocket your sense of wellbeing

• Spark joy in your everyday life

And so much more…

Now that borders have opened up, and the need for quarantine has lifted, please think about yoga and meditation retreats.

We practice silently in the morning, then we go for a walk, or rest, eat delicious food, and chat. We do Nidra in the afternoon, play Scrabble, mindful art, read, garden, have an afternoon cup of tea and a chat, or simply some more rest. Some slow, long stretches in the evening, and after a light supper, we spend the evening sitting under the stars or watching a spiritual movie.

Here’s a breakdown for the 10 days

1 April: Opening Night

On the opening evening, Shantiji leads us into a guided session on Mindfulness and Pranayama, which is followed by a celebratory dinner, and then induction under the Southern stars, which sets us up for the marvelous experience of cultivating the practice for Intensive Peace.

2-4 April: Intense Peace. Vipassana. Silent Meditation retreat – 3 days

A silent retreat is a perfect time to make a new beginning.

Silence washes our awareness. Peace and quietude nurture our being.

The essence of spiritual practice is letting go and receiving deeply.

This is your retreat to let go, be mindfully present, and receive the quiet grace in your heart.

The 3 days, from Good Friday to Easter Sunday, are spent cultivating mindfulness in noble silence. Exploring darkness and light, growth and rejuvenation, the practice is both sophisticated and liberating, as it brings a fresh spin to our stories, our shadow self, and our mirrors. Eventually, the clutter of compulsive thought is cleared away, and the light of awareness becomes powerfully bright. This brightness turned inwards, allows you to access the immaterial realms that a cluttered mind cannot attain. When this brightness is turned towards materiality (the physical world) or mentality (thought forms), these can be perceived and experienced in their unconditioned form, without the overlay of conceptual, conditioned thought.

5-8 April: The Yoga Sutras 4 days

Then the silence lifts, and we proceed with the definitive textbook of classical Yoga. Each day will include periods of meditation, yoga Nidra (deep relaxation), and gentle yoga, and during the course of the retreat, we have short philosophical (dharma) talks and group discussions to deepen our understanding of our dharma in the world. Together we establish a retreat environment that includes daily practice, noble silence, simple group meals, and participation in food preparation and clean-up, in the garden and other tasks, or simply relax.

9-11 April: The 7 Spiritual Laws of Healing

We culminate the retreat with a wonderful weekend spent with a lovely body, mind, spirit understanding based on the Laws of Healing from the Vedic sciences of Yoga and Ayurveda, and conclude the retreat with a delicious Sunday feast before we head down the mountain back to our homes.