To everyone who came to the retreat and made it a success.
The next one is November 5-6 at the same beautiful place (it's the weekend we turn back the clocks - so everyone will get an extra hour of R&R). This time we will be in the upstairs room, with plenty of wall space. Save the date!
Here're some highlights from this weekend:
Some students ordered pizza on Friday night, and then we went for a walk in the woods. We looked at the stars (Orion's Belt and the Little Dipper were visible) and aimed the iPhone at the sky to see what Starwalker said about the constellations. Then we checked out the Stations of the Cross (using the flashlight app). So much for eschewing technology! Finally, we walked the labyrinth. Just after we got to the center and sat down, the pizza arrived. (I did not have any pizza, although the senses craved it).
During the the official welcome on Saturday, we learned that the Sisters had been praying for us before we arrived, would pray for us while we were there, and continue to pray for us after we left. (The eyes began to tear up when I heard that). No wonder everyone felt so welcome and peaceful when they arrived.
In the evening, after Psychic Development, we looked up and saw a common house sparrow perched on the St. Francis statue outside the window.
During free time, students read, had massages, napped, hiked, walked the labyrinth, or lounged in the many, many soft, comfortable recliners and rocking chairs scattered throughout the building and in the rooms.
Some sat down for an impromptu screening of Enlighten Up! - so much for eschewing electronics - which temporarily satisfied everyone's curiosity about elusive ashtangi Norman Allen.
We ended each session with:
Loka Samasta Sukino Bhavantu
Loka Samasta Sukino Bhavantu
Loka Samasta Sukino Bhavantu
OM
Shan'ti Shan'ti Shan'ti
(May the Lord bless the whole world with eternal peace and goodwill X 3
Peace peace peace)
Thanks to everyone who enriched my life this weekend.
ReplyDeleteBe sure and watch the video on Norman Allen --'Farmer' (hahahahahahaha)
Or as Linda had on her blog -- "Normal" Allen (more hee hee hee)
See you in November.
Ralph from DeKalb
Namaste~ Cara.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the retreat - great experience... now to learn arm balances!
ok, that last message was from me, Irene!
ReplyDeleteThanks again for the retreat.I could watch "Normal" Allen over and over again.
ReplyDeleteI love that the nuns prayed for the group!! Maybe even non-nuns prayed for your group...
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear that it went well. I hope the pizza had "mozzarella".
After awhile are you going to start doing these in warmer weather? The pics from both retreats have been great but it'd be nice to see that people don't have to bundle up outside! I know, a yogi is indifferent to hot and cold. (sorry for butchering that sutra).
I tried to book the fall retreat in October, when the weather is generally good, but those weekends were already taken.
ReplyDeleteSummer is problematic for attendance because people usually are busy with other things.... ie; running around like the insects.
As it is, most of the retreat time is spent indoors. Nine hours of yoga plus eight hours of sleep plus four hours of eating plus one hour to bathe = 22 hours of a 26-hour retreat. This leaves just four hours for napping, reading, hiking, walking the labyrinth, etc.
Perhaps there will be a warm-place retreat at some point.
The quote you refer to is from the Bhagavad-Gita, and refers to the Jnana path:
Notions of heat and cold, of pain and pleasure, are born, O son of Kunti, only of the contact of the senses with their objects. They have a beginning and an end. They are impermanent in their nature. Bear them patiently, O descendant of Bharata. (Bhagavad Gita 2.14)
That person who is the same in pain and pleasure, whom these cannot disturb, alone is able, O great amongst men [Arjuna], to attain to immortality. (2.15)