3 Things I Learned From The Retreat James and I Offered Last Weekend

This past weekend we run a workshop in the Berkshires on Yoga and The Daily Practice, how to "Awaken the Power of Spirit" by taking care of all four legs of support: the emotional, physical, mental and spiritual.  Here are some photos.

Each morning we started with yoga and breathing exercises, I felt blessed to have such a large and dedicated group.  This is a photo taken from the back of the room, with the stage in the front.  Although all legs of the practice work together, we used the early morning time  to focus on the physical and spiritual side.

We had a very sunny room at Kripalu, which provided us with beautiful sun-rising views as we were saluting the sun and warming up the body.  It was a magnificent demonstration of the natural feast that the sun provides as it comes up, during the day and as it sets.

As the workshop progressed we could all see clearly how it is important to combine parts, the spiritual, mental, physical and emotional, in order to be successful.

At the end of the workshop we gathered everyone around to take a group photo. As you can see, some of us are waving the "waiter pad" which James described as a wonderful conversation starter, sign of frugality and perfect medium to exercise the "mental"side of the practice, meaning coming up with ideas and more ideas.  

We also used the pads for the "emotional" side as we listed things we could do less of, to make room for good things to come into our lives.

We received very good feedback and encouragement from the practitioners and we had a good weekend with a lot of learning and sharing.

3 Things I Learned

1.- There is a need for spiritual retreats to combine spiritual with real life.  We found many people are afraid to combine them, and many at the workshop were grateful that we were talking not only about spirit but also about day to day, down to earth, stuff (i.e.: paying for debt, what to do about work when there is no work out there, etc)

2.- People love yoga.  Some may be scared to try it, but a gentle class can do wonders to highlight how powerful a practice of asanas and breathing in the morning can be. From the physical exercise to the meditative, to the relaxation and breathing exercises. 

3.- Ideas can mate.  This came from one exercise James offered where people were coming up with ten ideas of books they could write and then each person paired with a partner to come up with a combined book.  Every single book that was mentioned ("The History of Music Technology Through The Best Musicians", "Making Bread in a Parallel World", etc) as a combination sounded very interesting and I wish I could read.  It was a powerful example to see how ideas can merge into each other and deliver value.