Going on retreat ..

Hello friends.

On this beautiful sunny Melbourne day I am calling for your help.

For all you regular followers, friends, or those just passing by .. I would like to ask .. have you had a great retreat experience?

 

I am ALWAYS being asked about Retreats, Ashrams, Spa's where people can go to just 'be' .. especially silent retreat settings or communities where you can participate in daily rituals, help out, do some yoga, meditate, write, walk .. away from normal life routines and responsibilities.

 

I would really like to build a list .. maybe even get there myself and write a little about the experience so that you can have an insight, and we can share the journey ..

 

Starting first with Victorian based retreats (that's Victoria, Australia) then moving further afield to other parts of this big wide land .. and yes, overseas too.

 

Have you been to a retreat, ashram or abbey?

 

Have you heard about one but never had a chance to get there?

 

Please share we would love to hear

 

*the above picture is from New Mellery Abbey a Trappist monastery founded in 1849 and located in Iowa, USA

Going Away To Go Within

Have you ever been on a retreat?

Over the past couple of days there have been definite 'signs'.. whispers and flyers and emails .. crossing my path in every direction .. retreat.. retreat .. retreat ...
A retreat gives us the sublime opportunity to step away from the hustle and bustle of busy modern life, leave behind for a moment all of our responsibilities, must-do's and should-do's .. and give us a very big moment to pause and catch our breath!

More than a holiday, a retreat, provides the space and intention to rest, heal, reflect and renew our spirit. Uninterrupted time to immerse ourselves in a new practice,focus on wellbeing and health, allow ourselves to be nurtured and guided by others, and rest in a different spaciousness of time .. which allows for change and reflection.

If you are interested in reading a little about retreats, keen to explore some current retreat options, or would like to share your retreat experience .. visit our Retreat Beat blog.

On my vision board is now a new entry .. the word 'retreat'.

Retreat Beat

RETREAT BEAT

http://www.retreatbeat.blogspot.com/

Ever found yourself yearning for some real time away from the routine and grind of the day to day? Time to explore your meditation practice .. or yoga practice .. or just some space and time to think and clarify and explore?

Well over a year ago I responded to the regular requests of .. 'could I recommend a meditation retreat'?.. and set up a new blog Retreat Beat

Only thing was, then life took off .. and a year has now flown past and I have not had the time to nourish my new blog .. and definitely not had time to attend any retreats! But in recent weeks I have had a yearning to take some time out and refresh my own meditation practice, and wellbeing, and attend another retreat. It may be just a single day .. or a longer retreat (and why have three people already this year suggested I take the plunge and join them in visiting India .. with sooooo many retreat options, a veritable smorgasboard!).

I am not sure what will be the next step .. but it will come. And I do have a renewed interest in tapping into this area and sharing Retreat experiences on the Retreat Beat blog.

So with the next breath .. we start again. Like meditation with every breath we have the opportunity to reconnect with our practice.

CALLING .. bloggers who might like to share their retreat experience! Go to www.retreatbeat.blogspot.com and leave a comment. I am also doing some research for some retreats that I know are coming up this year in Australia (with some truly amazing people and some delicious venues) which I shall put up as soon as I am allowed to :)

This should be fun!

Namaste

A Day Retreat

Yesterday I gifted myself a full day of meditation! Really the family said .. on a Sunday!

I continue to dream of a longer retreat (such as the Bali yoga & meditation retreat I attend some years ago ) but for the moment I must find other ways to inspire and nourish my practice. This retreat was organised by the Melbourne Insight Meditation group and held at CERES (the Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies) on the banks of the Merri Creek in East Brunswick (just out of the centre of Melbourne).

The best environment for meditation is one that is peaceful, sedative, relaxing, soothing and surrounded by raw nature.

And it really felt like I had driven into the country. When I arrived just after 9am Sunday morning there was certainly the smell of 'country' in the air and I was loudly greeted by the chooks who were making a right racket right next to our retreat room :) .. possibly eager for breakfast, or maybe just reminding us who in fact ruled the roost and tempting us to imagine how we might rise above the noise while contemplating the breath!

This was a full day workshop, the Melbourne Insight Meditation group also holds regular meetings at Ceres on Monday nights. I honestly didn't know much about the group, could find little on the internet, nor had an opportunity to find out much more on the day. But I am very familiar with the Insight Meditation Society in the US (Barre, Massachusetts) and Tara Brachs and Sharon Salzberg are two of my favourite online teachers.

I believe the teachings are led by lay practitioners, apparently there are many different style of Insight meditation, and teachers with different approaches. There is some reference made to Vipassana teachings (Theravada tradition) but this is not I understand a buddhist group. The common thread seems to be the focus on settling the mind, developing clarity, and looking carefully at one's experience. So being open to a full day of just meditating, I joined a group of about 30 people and we simply observed through the practice of sitting and walking meditation; we were also graciously served a lovely dahl lunch .. shared under the cool of the grape vines.

It is important that we keep feeding our practice .. otherwise I think we become a little lazy and complacent .. and our awareness loses its sharpness. Certainly there are 'many roads up the mountain' .. so it is great to move outside our usual practice, meet others, explore new philosophies and expand our experiences.

My posterior is a little sore for sitting on my cushion most of the day, but I feel my own meditation has received a breath of fresh country air.

*Note : I have another blog Retreat Beat was in response to my being regularly asked for advice on where to experience a meditation retreat. It has just a few entries at the moment as my ability to attend retreats is limited .. but in time I hope to provide details of various meditation retreats around Melbourne (possibly Australia and beyond) .. if you have attended a retreat and would like to share your experience please let me know.

Finding a Meditation Retreat

RETREAT BEAT

http://www.retreatbeat.blogspot.com/

Ever found yourself yearning for some real time away from the responsibilities and grind of the day to day? Time to explore your meditation practice .. or yoga practice .. or just some space and time to think and clarify and explore? Well seems you and I are not the only ones! A recent sequence of occurances (yes life does put things in front of you until you listen) and then a timely request from a student in one of my meditation classes came to the 'ahha' moment last week .. 'could I recommend a meditation retreat'?

I have done a few short retreats and am always eagerly seeking out new retreat experiences. I have a 'wish-to-do-list' and I keep my eyes and ears open. Unfortunately life is pretty frantic and while I am juggling so many balls at the moment I cannot justify taking off as often as I would like. But I have found that the search to find a good retreat is really difficult. There are probably lots of interesting retreat options out there but which one? where can I find out more? Is it for me?

So .. a new blog .. Retreat Beat is a new service for listing and reviewing Retreats .. you can read more at the blog www.retreatbeat.blogspot.com and I hope you will visit - and more importantly - if you have any suggestions, referrals or comments please do let me know. I hope to now attend more retreats over the coming year and report back on my experience and help others to find the right retreat for them..

Namaste

Golden moments of Silence...

"Because God whispers"
Being silent means more than just holding your tongue. It means listening for the softest, most subtle sound of all - the sound of the soul.

Ode Magazine, Tijn Touber July 2008 issue

About a year ago now I attended a weekend meditation retreat down on the Mornington Peninsula. The retreat was led by Paul Wilson (Calm Centre ~ http://www.calmcentre.com.au/) and was held at the Brahma Kumaris centre (http://www.brahmakumaris.com.au/). Only an hour from my home but on arrival it felt like I had been transported to a far off country retreat.. set in beautiful untouched native bushland, big open grounds, a surprise lake hidden in the middle of a private forest, a small boat shed at its shoreline, ducks on the water... it felt like a private estate, and once all attendees has registered the big gates at the end of the property were locked behind us for the duration of our stay.

So a small group of 20 strangers came together for the purpose of sharing a weekend of meditation. Having closed the outside world away, we all breathed a contented sigh of relief.. and proceeded to share an amazing weekend, making new friends and enjoyed the opportunity to engage ourselves in a period of inner silence and meditation.

Our days started with the sun rising and early morning silent meditation and while I usually struggle with my alarm clock each morning, when away on retreat it all seems so much easier to do! We followed our early rising with some Qigong exercises, had breakfast, spent time exploring different meditation techniques, joined Paul in his guided meditation sessions, had lively discussions, enjoyed music meditation, filled up on continous and lovingly prepared meals, took walks in the bush - and threw ourselves into fantastic periods of silence.

On our last day we spent most of the day in silence ... no talking, no reading, no writing, no distracting .. just BEING in the moment and witnessing our thoughts, our feelings and our inner voices. This was an inspiring and wonderful gift. The power of silence can only be really appreciated with experience.. it is only when we are truly silent that we really hear.

This article today from Ode Magazine is a beautiful introduction and eloquent journey into the world of silence and I would highly recommend that you read and then seek to explore this gift to yourself.

I am again inspired to seek out another retreat experience with a large component of silence. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know... Namaste