Tag: retreat
Entering the castle
by Isabel Galiardo
Marathons, Mindfulness and Love
by Helen Williams
Recently I spent several days exploring the absolute beauty of the city of Prague, walking the old streets, attending recitals and concerts in the stunning beauty of historic churches and cathedrals, and enjoying excellent and abundant food! However, what actually moved me to tears and encourages me now to write was the lived experience of ‘stumbling’ by accident upon thousands of runners participating in the Prague Marathon.
I stopped to watch and simply couldn’t tear myself away. Found myself moved to tears and wondered why? I don’t run!! Not even to the nearest lamp post! And yet here I was completely absorbed by the energy of it all, watching these runners labouring hard, intent on their next step, aware of their bodies, the noticeable pain on some faces, their heaving chests and sweating bodies, all present in the moment.
I wandered on and found myself at the 32 km mark, hordes of people cheering, yelling, clapping and encouraging the runners – multitudes of languages spoken, but all in the language of enthusiasm, support, caring and encouragement.
And then it struck me! I am feeling so deeply touched by all the caring that surrounds me on all sides. People sending loving, considered encouragement to each other, all at one with the purpose in front of them – to run their best for themselves and for their teams.
Such a spirit of unity and connectedness is deeply moving to be a part of. I stood there for nearly 2 hours and enjoyed every moment of it.
This is Mindful awareness at its best.
Silence, please
by Isabel Galiardo
TV series, WhatsApp messages, Skype conversations, Facebook posts. News, news, comments, chats,…Breakfasts, meals, coffees and teas, brunches and movies.
We are part of a culture that promotes noise. We live permanently bombarded by stimuli that make it difficult or almost impossible to internalize and connect with our interior. The lucrative business of entertainment keeps us alienated, absorbed in information, audio and visual messages of all sorts, keeping us distracted and disconnected from our selves.
We are afraid of listening internally. Afraid of encountering our insecurities, unresolved issues, loneliness and emptiness. We keep focusing our attention on something external to avoid the pain, but in doing so we are missing the connection with our essence, a place inside of us in which we can find the peace, clarity and strength we are yearning for.
Why is it so difficult to remain connected if we have all those treasures waiting for us in the depths of our being? Because first we need to fight the dragon protecting the door.
The dragon is the symbol or our fears, limiting beliefs and painful wounds. We need to confront him. We don’t want to kill him but make him our ally. We can make peace with our past. How? By accepting and embracing it, which will gives us the power to transcend it.
When we have the courage to fight the dragon, when we break through the layers of our conditioned mind, we access an inner space where we can experience the joy of just being.