It is traditional in the practice of yoga and other spiritual disciplines, to spend some time in retreat, away from the world.
Some practitioners as you may know, spend many years ‘up the mountain’ or even a lifetime in a monastery. In our uniqueness we all have different drives and aspirations but perhaps one of the things we share is that life can get hectically challenging and we can feel very disconnected not only from what we believe to be our purpose, but also our inner source.
Yoga helps us to Re Source and the beauty of the retreat space is that it facilitates this process with less distractions than we usually face in our day to day life. Shakyamuni Buddha (Gautama) was said to have taught that one of our main obstructions to the path of liberation is that we are constantly distracted; we are so over stimulated that we don’t even recognise this any more. How fast are you reading this? Are you just waiting for a punchline?
Yoga has been defined as the ‘cessation of the waves of consciousness’.
Retreat time is an opportunity to put down your device, give the social media a rest, be away from the usual distractions of home and work and indulge in something you love. When some of these waves slow down or are simply given the opportunity to do so, a clarity arises from the deeper mind layers. This insight then perfuses the body with peace and joy which act as a tonic that can last for many weeks or months.
During our retreats you will find there is a lovely balance of doing and not doing. The program keeps you as involved with the sessions and sharing time with the other retreaters as you wish to be. All of our students find that the simple ‘change is as good as a rest’ applies in the retreat space, plus the added advantage that bringing the yoga dimension in to any experience tends to make for many wonderful moments and magical memories.
We often hear after a day’s retreat that ‘it felt like a whole weekend’, after a weekend retreat ‘like a week’s holiday’ and after a week’s event, ‘like a few weeks away!’
Thank you to all of you who joined us for this truly special weekend away – thank you for returning so many times or for joining us for your first experience!
To find out more about our latest events please have a look at the Events page here.
Matt Gluck
April 2024