I have had a lot of people asking me how my silent retreat was, so thought I would write a recap here.
Firstly I would like to thank Radha Iveta for holding the space so beautifully for us all. Radha is a local yoga teacher and her wisdom, insights and gentleness speak for themselves. I highly recommend to check into one of her sessions or retreat. I found this feather when I came home and took the dog for a walk – it reminded me of you Radha 
I loved removing all the external noise, I loved not having to engage in communication, I loved not have a mobile phone or device, I loved having meals cooked for me – thank you Tara Spice, I loved sitting for several hours every day in meditation to process and just be, I loved the retreat centre and the gardens and to just be in my own bubble for a few days without any external stimulation. Once we broke silence after 3 days it felt way too soon and I was overwhelmed by the noise and information.
One thing that strongly emerged for me is how deeply I love my family and that is doesn’t feel right to often prioritize work over time I could be spending with them. So one of my take away’s is to be really mindful of what I am going to do with my time and which things I can let go of.
Another thing that emerged is to weed out my social media feeds. I want to focus more on what I have to offer on my pages, rather than taking in unhealthy amounts of information that I can’t really process and realistically don’t need in my life.
I would also like to establish at least 2 silent get away’s for myself every year, to be able to reflect properly on what I do, what can stay, what needs to go, what I want to invite, what I can let go of.
I realised how much energy we put every day into listening to others and into communicating ourselves and processing all that information. I personally need space for myself alot to accommodate for my introvert tendencies. I get overwhelmed by too much external stimulation and that shows itself as myself becoming stressed and grumpy. As much as I would like to spend more time with friends or make new ones at this stage in my life, there are just not enough hours in the day to get time for myself, cope with my workload, the household, the kids etc. I really need more meditation and quiet spells – they are so nourishing and good for me.
I also felt I really connected more intimately with my heartspace. I felt a real softness & gentleness and I really want to bring that into my daily life. Often when I get stressed and feel overwhelmed the safest place to let the steam out is at home and that doesn’t feel right. So I want to bring that soft and gentleness into all areas of my life – my communication, my interactions, my work, my self compassion when I stuff things up.
What also emerged very strongly is that I want to be vegetarian again. I was vegetarian for 15 years and tried to eat fish and meat, but it doesn’t feel right. So that will take some re-organising in our household and in my mind.
At the end of the retreat I drew 3 cards from inspiration deck and they were all so relevant to my reflections during the retreat:
⚛️ Attack, Pain, Fear, Judgement, and any form of separation are merely calls for help. (note to self: ask for help, offer help when noticing myself or others in that situation)
⚛️ There is a stream of love supporting my dreams. (note to self: meditate more to be clear on what my dreams are and TRUST)
⚛️ When I lean on the faith of the Universe, Peace becomes real. (note to self: TRUST more, act from the heart, practice softness & gentleness)
Radha is offering another retreat from 30th October until 4th November at Strathean Retreat in Otaki. You can see more info on heartawakening.org or e-mail her: [email protected].