The flight to Bali is 24 hrs behind…the class of 25 students are all on their way and i am meant to start the circle in less than 2 days time. I freak at first , then Surrender ..the following flow is gentle and seamless..we get red carpet treatment at a 5 star hotel on Brissy’s Southbank, the flight is full of spare seats so we lie down and sleep. When we arrive at the village the following day, the perfect number of rooms are spare for the group and the opening circle reveals a wonderful group of souls with many hearts already wide open.
The first class of yoga..is daunting fro some as we have such a wide variety of participants.Some yoga teachers, with a practice of over 10 years, for others it is their first yoga class ever. I make it clear that YOGA..is Your yoga…it is the journey and the tuning into your moment with breath, mind and body thats makes yoga something we can practice on and off the mat…The goal of being in some perfected asana may take us away from yoga. Faces soften. bodies relax..i feel surrender as many gain a clearer perspective of yoga. ‘Surrender is being fully in the moment’ states Neen Karoli Baba. Yes …we can surrender right now.
The night before the Nyepi day of silence is a Nyepi celebration at the village temple beside the surfbreak. We dress in Sarongs, headwear and flowers and join the 300 plus villagers at the sacred ceremony where a cow is slaughtered and given up as an offfering. As we walk home on dusk many participants are attempting to bypass the ‘ slaughter’ and all the ‘gruesome ‘ that goes with it. However, all rice paddy tracks are closed as we try to depart , and we need to cross the river …where as you may anticipate is the offerring being cleaned in the stream. The group ‘surrenders,’ let’s go of the fear and walks through the pack of villagers busy at work. Life.death, ceremony, community and REMEMBERING OF GOD… all alive in a lesson for all..The group reminds each other of the small but potent packages to expand our awareness are alive not only in this simple village but in every experience when we surrender and listen.
Kevin has us all sounding together,as the group closes the circle with a final, deep resonating OM …I feel nothing but Gratitude for what all Have Embraced over the week we share together. The faces on many look ten years younger. Maybe it has been from the river of tears that have flowed freely. Maybe it was from that one hug at the perfect time. Maybe it is from that spontaneous smile that happenned when the two sets of eyes met each other.Now some are ready for a full week of YOGA, dance and music at the magical Bali spirit Festival or others the solitude of a deserted Amed beach. Now we are faced with choices..” where to go?” ..Like when we leave our yoga mat from the guidance and connectedness of a class..Surrender now takes a less passive form whilst life takes a new canvas. Intuition may be surrender in its active state. “Intuition is to be in tune with oneself, totally in tune with oneself. And out of that tuning, solutions arise from Nowhere”.. Osho
When our circumstance is a busy Ubud street..which bemo? which restaurant? which class? Sensory stimulation overload simply indicates many channels are operating at once.. Tuning in allows us to align with the right one. This is also where our practice serves us. Our practice of making the moment to moment choices to live in greater harmony with one’s truth and divine essence …An expanded awareness truly is something we all have the choice to take with us.
An embrace retreat will always brings up ‘STUFF’ ..some of it painful. some not, all revealing. Maybe now we can encourage all to stop look at things and begin looking at looking..with honesty and clarity. Maybe now we can change aspects of our BEING . we wish to change. Maybe now we can Embrace the full depth of “Surrender “Not a surrender that is lost and defeated, but simply a surrender that is completely immersed in a loving presence.
‘Surrender is being Lost in Love.’..Mahara-ji
Shine fully
gwyny
