I’m not long back from an inspiring ten-day silent meditation retreat. ‘Total Immersion’, the name of the retreat, turned out to be as much a weather forecast, a reference to the constant downpour as to our meditation practice! And we were camping!
The beautiful, gentle stream running through the site, alongside which we decided to pitch our tent (!), rapidly turned into a raging torrent. We came very close to being flooded out; my partner and I broke our silence as we plotted our tent moving strategy! I learnt a lot, however, about the rise and fall of water levels. Rivers can drop back down just as quickly, it turns out, if the rain eases.
The beautiful, gentle stream running through the site, alongside which we decided to pitch our tent (!), rapidly turned into a raging torrent. We came very close to being flooded out; my partner and I broke our silence as we plotted our tent moving strategy! I learnt a lot, however, about the rise and fall of water levels. Rivers can drop back down just as quickly, it turns out, if the rain eases.
Just as the Buddha meditated in the rainy season so did we! Despite the weather and the accompanying mud, I spent most of the retreat in a blissful, expanded state. My meditations were mostly spacious, my mind peaceful, focussed and still, listening to the patter of the rain giving way to the drumming of the rain.
At the end of the retreat we did have one or two days of sunshine, enough to remind me of how being outside, exposed to the baking sun can impact on us. If you’re heading off on retreat this summer, be sure to protect the crown chakra from the burning sun – wear a sun hat and seek out shade when you can. Intense spiritual practice accompanied by exposure to summer sun can contribute to tipping us over into spiritual emergency.
Now I’m all chilled out and all fired up, ready to share my inspiration with my Mindfulness students this autumn!
At the end of the retreat we did have one or two days of sunshine, enough to remind me of how being outside, exposed to the baking sun can impact on us. If you’re heading off on retreat this summer, be sure to protect the crown chakra from the burning sun – wear a sun hat and seek out shade when you can. Intense spiritual practice accompanied by exposure to summer sun can contribute to tipping us over into spiritual emergency.
Now I’m all chilled out and all fired up, ready to share my inspiration with my Mindfulness students this autumn!
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