This was my only retreat in the UK this year and perhaps this is why it was especially special. Myself and 10 others spent three nights and three days together at the wonderfully peaceful Claridge House (a quaker retreat center and bed a breakfast in Surrey) exploring ways to soothe and calm the nervous system as well what brings us a sense of joy and helps us to release habitually held tensions in the body and mind.
We began by befriending our breath and used various breathing practices to help move us out of unhealthy - versions of hyperventilation - breathing patterns which are so endemic in our modern day western bodies, so much so that we don't even realise they are playing out in our systems. Over time, if left unchecked these kinds of breathing patterns cause damage to the various systems of the body (all part of one big system) as they disrupt the fine balance our body is eternally seeking to maintain, which is health. We used the simple 'mantra' (obviously not a real mantra!) of NOSE, LOW and SLOW as a reminder to check whether we are breathing through the nose and low into the body, feeling and sensing the movement of breath in the belly. If the abdomen is tight and held (which is common when the stress response is activated making the tissues of the body gather in and up in readiness to fight or flee) it will inhibit the full movement of the diaphragm - the main breathing muscle - which requires full and uninhibited range of movement to do it's job effectively. By relaxing the belly fully using self massage, a little pressure or lying on the belly, we create an environment whereby the diaphragm can take up the helm and relieve the accessory breathing muscles which are onboarded when the demand for oxygen increases or when the diaphragm is de-conditioned or simply unable to do it's job effectively.
Here is a link to an real time MRI of diaphragmatic breathing which clearly shows it's doming movement and how it affects both the organs in the abdominal cavity - massaging them - and how it stretches and squeezes the heart, assisting the cardiac pump thereby taking pressure of the heart.
We explored moving in ways which help release tension in the tissues, infusing movement with breath and using the floor as a means of support and feedback to really sense and feel our bodies, where we hold tension and how to open up avenues of release. We also utilised the powerful tool of mantra to help settle the breath, still the mind and guide us into the silence.
We had fun in the summer sun, grounding and playing in the gorgeous garden surrounded by the powerful arboreal presence offered by the sequoias, firs and the lone yew. Walking meditation on the soft, bouncy grass took on a new dimension inviting us into even deeper connection with the sensatory experience being offered by the mossy grass and warm earth.
On the last night we had a fire and made s'mores (I couldn't face one after all the cake and desert we had already eaten!) but everyone else seemed to enjoy them immensely. We sat around the fire as the daylight faded and the nearly full moon began to rise low and slow (sounding familiar?!) behind the trees. An owl in nearby tree called out a few times, perhaps responding to the fire and general merriment or maybe just inspired by the rising moon, and then flew directly overhead. We were all quite touched by this and keen to know it's significance. When I looked it up (not on google!!) it stated that Owls are often associated with inner wisdom, intelligence, vision, intuition, self actualisation, magic as well as fear and death. Some of these qualities seemed pretty fitting for a yoga retreat where we had been learning how to get quiet and listen inwards to that inner wisdom and discussed teachings on the nature of reality via the So Ham (I am that) chant we had chanted the previous night.
We also sang a few songs as is compulsory really when sitting around a fire!
On the last day I attended the Quaker meeting for worship which is held every Sunday. The Quaker way is to sit quietly together and contemplate whatever might be arising or read from the bible or the Queries and Answers booklet available at every Quaker meeting. Sometimes someone might feel quaked to speak and will offer something which is for the benefit of all those gathered. At one point a woman in the meeting offered a short poem by David White for us to contemplate. I found myself repeating one of the lines of the poem over and over until tears began to well up in my eyes as the deeper meaning dawned on me - how we all try and try and then try some more! What effort and hard work it is and how it is mostly in vain as we try to make something we think should happen happen, when in fact it might not be what needs to or in fact does, in the end happen! When we spoke about the meeting in our last session of the weekend the others who had also attended had focused on different lines of what was only a 5 or 6 line poem but we all had come to the same conclusion about it's meaning. It brought to mind the poem 'Tripping over Joy' by Hafez, a 14th centaury Persian poet:
What is the difference
Between your experience of Existence
And that of a saint?
The saint knows
That the spiritual path
Is a sublime chess game with God
And that the Beloved
Has just made such a Fantastic Move
That the saint is now continually
Tripping over Joy
And bursting out in Laughter
And saying, “I Surrender!”
Whereas, my dear,
I am afraid you still think
You have a thousand serious moves.”
And so we all left feeling more connected, fuller and lighter in our step. I am grateful to be able to offer the teachings I have received, my teachers and all the teachers who have come before them as well as my own life experience which helps to flesh out and put to the test those teachings. I am also very grateful to everyone who came and opened their hearts to each other, sharing parts and aspects of themselves and listening with compassion when tough stuff came to the surface.
Thank you everyone at Claridge House for looking after us so well and feeding us amply with nutritious and tasty manna.
I will be teaching there again next year in February and August so keep an eye out for the dates or just message me to ask me to let you know directly (leahbasana@gmail.com).
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