Summer Soul –day 2: 5th July 2014

Daylight comes early, the garden of Paradise passing from darkens into light, first sun-beams kissing the tents in the camping area. A few early risers go out to the beach to enjoy the peaceful dance of the waves.

The program begins at 8.30 for a morning yoga practice. After an energizing and heart opening session of yoga we share a breakfast lovingly prepared by the staff of Ambrosia – a renowned vegetarian restaurant located in Concordia – Natha’s Copenhagen Yoga center. I can honestly say that I never ate Musly this good before. Later I bother one of the cooks to give me the recipe but she just replies that the main ingredient is Love. I think she was only half joking.

After breakfast we gather in one of the halls for a Morning Gathering – this is going to become a daily practice in the retreat. To start off we each share what we feel in that moment, removing the barriers of shame and separation we build around us. Then follow a series of exercises to charge ourselves with light and open the heart. Afterwards it seems like we are walking on clouds.

Before lunch we divide into two groups which are going to continue on during the retreat – one group focused on awakening the heart through creativity and the other group for awakening the heart through touch. Ulrik Lyshoj speaks with the Touch group about the intimate connection between awareness and relaxation – and how being aware of the sensations of touch can help us relax and connect to our hearts. Ines Honfi speaks with the Creativity group about Divine art (or Objective Art) and the difference between that and the mundane subjective art.

The ambrosia team emerge from the kitchen before lunch and present the food. More than that – they explain that it matters not only what you eat but even more so HOW you eat.

In the afternoon the Touch group meets in one of the halls for a guided workshop of Relaxing Massage. I will not see them again until a few hours later – when they come out of the hall all relaxed and smiling.

The Creativity group meets in another hall for a workshop of creating Mandalas. A Mandala, so we are explained, is a graphic presentation of a Divine Energy, a sui generis gateway for this energy to manifest, as Ines explains in the interview bellow:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw0_cvceCAI

We each chose an energy or elevated attribute we want to represent and then, in a state f inspiration, we gather the materials to create the Mandala for it. The whole action takes place in a state of sublime creativity. Some of the results can be seen bellow:

This day seems to come in waves of love, one after the other. Just when you think this is the most you could experience, comes another wave of experience, even stronger. Maybe a better way to describe it is like heart-beats, one coming after the other, each one sending vibrations throughout your body, but all coming from the center of your being.

So, after dinner came one more wave – an inner journey and fire ceremony. We met inside and through a process of guided visualization we each saw ourselves as we could be, as we should be, and then we saw what is it that stops us from getting there. We each identified and then wrote on a piece of paper this inner blockage. Walking in a state of contemplation to the bon-fire in the yard we each threw the note into the fire, feeling that we are forever giving up those aspects in us which keep us enchained to the ego.  At the light of the fire it was felt like a re-birth, a cleansing of the soul, a triumph of the spirit. Then came a light rain, kissing our heads, sending us to bed.