Being by ourselves in a solo retreat creates the opportunity for three important explorations or insights:
Alone in a crowd: We can examine the concept of being alone
Who is alone?: We can explore the fear of abandonment and death
I’m dancing as fast as I can: We can see our habitual patterns of avoiding connecting with our inner depth
Do you find it tough transitioning from your working day back into your home life? Or going into work on Monday morning after a weekend with friends and family?
It’s a whole other shift of gears to transition into the energy of a retreat center.
It’s always strange being asked where I’ll be going for my two week Christmas holiday, because these past few years it’s always
Even someone who meditates is sometimes nervous about going on retreat. Yet, there is no replacement for this extended period of simply being with our arisings to see that they are merely patterns. They come and go, so long as we don’t hold on to them.
After I’d done it, I realized that before, my ego had felt some sort of power and satisfaction from not wanting to do the task.
Does that resonate? How we randomly own a feeling and make it our reality, whether it feels good or not?
Recently, a friend came up to me and said, “something’s different with you”.
A little surprised, I let this sink in and then asked her what she thought it was..
While on retreat one time, I noticed that going over and over my story about “me” in my head is not useful, calming, or satisfying, even though it may seem so.
We’re just not used to being so patient, and as our world gets faster and faster, it has become easy to think that anything we want should happen immediately, with the click of a mouse, or by downloading an app.
Self doubt – it’s useless and painful.
Newsflash, though – since it is created by thinking a certain way, the good news is that it be changed. In other words:
It’s not necessary and can be transformed
Does the above conversation resonate with you at all? Well, let’s try that differently this time, applying some mindfulness of what’s going on with me.
While it might seem relaxing to watch TV over a meal or think over something else while washing up, where’s the sense of FOMO for the present moment? When not fully present, we’re actually missing out on being alive in that moment, and missing potential insights that will lead to greater freedom.
Well, the black hole image (or rather, the image of its halo since the “object” itself is out of sight) just became one of my new mindfulness tools.
Creative moments, whether they happen as an individual or working with a team, are some of the most rewarding and enjoyable parts of our work.
Yet, it can be hard to be consistently creative, especially if we feel we are always running to deadlines and juggling a thousand things. So how can mindfulness help us bring more creativity into our work?
We can forget to take a few moments to breathe, go for a mindful walk, or try out any other of the nurturing and supportive ways we’ve learnt to be more present.
One thing I’ve learnt from my own explorations teaching and practising mindfulness, is that small changes in our environment can help us be much more present.
A simple meditative activity, or a chore you love to hate?
Our daily activities offer great opportunities for mindfulness of the senses, the body, and for attention to details. You know, meditation…
How can we maintain our ability to stay aware throughout the day, when so many things take our attention and we mostly run on automatic pilot? The modern word for this is mindfulness.
Here are some tips from one of our recent creative weekends.
On our recent creative weekend, some of our team got together to come up with ideas on how you can best support your meditation practice.
We came up with some do’s and some dont’s that might be of help.
Dan O’Brien shares a little of his early story.
“For me…learning about meditation has been like being cooked in a slow cooker – in a good way…”
“Being open to the newness of the experience is often important, though it might be a challenge.”
Currently on the Karma Yoga program at Clear Sky, Richard shares a little about how he ended up on the meditative path, from learning about Buddhism to embracing multiple practice techniques.
If you meditate, what made you start? And if you’ve been trying to start, what’s motivating you? My depth knew that starting the path, of which meditation is part, would be life-changing (as indeed it has).
Community – I guess for some people this is easy, yet for me it’s an area that I have struggled with for many years. It feels like climbing Mount Everest.
So, for a month, I pretended that my teacher hadn’t said what he did.
Nestled in the Rocky Mountains of Southeastern BC, we’re conveniently located near Cranbrook International Airport.
We’re also a beautiful four-hour drive from Calgary, AB, and just one hour from the US border for easy access from Spokane, WA, Sandpoint, ID, and Whitefish, MT.
Click here for directions.
CONNECT WITH US
Looking for a space to retreat alone, or to simply unwind and reflect? We have three private cabins with valley views.
We can help you with a supportive balance of formal meditation time and optional mindful activities. Or, you can use the space for deep rest, journaling, or reflecting.
Locally sourced / organic meals provided. Optional daily meditation guidance is available.
Click here for more information.
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