When Adrian and Paul said we’re going to do a retreat for advanced practitioners at the end of last summer I was very keen and excited as to what that would entail. As the format and approach for the weekend started to make itself known to us in the build up to this summer, I knew this was going to be a treat of a weekend. We knew the retreat would see lots of familiar faces returning so it was always going to be a special weekend – more like hanging out with good mates than work! (although all our retreats end up feeling like that to me!)
And so I had to mindfully sit with my excitement for the August bank holiday weekend to come along! But what I also had to sit with was a noisy mind up to it’s usual tricks of trying to stop me going, coming up with all sorts of stories as to why I didn’t belong there as a team member. It would take more than that to stop me though and so I set off to a sunny Thornham Magna with a sense of wonder, excitement and open to whatever arose.
The weekend did indeed see the return of many familiar faces – some who we hadn’t seen in maybe 1, 2 or more years and so began one of the treats of the weekend – witnessing the power of this work. You could see the transformation in some of these faces, I reckon some looked younger than the last time we saw them! It was also an honour to meet new faces of some brave explorers – it’s not easy turning up to a retreat in the middle of the countryside and often at the end of a stressful week at work or challenging journey through Friday traffic!
We had intended to have lots of spaces in the programme for the weekend but as is often the way with plans, it wasn’t quite like that! Each morning was started with Qi Gong and for this we were blessed with Marcus as our teacher. Marcus is a wonderful teacher and the fact that nearly every guest was up early to take part every morning says it all. It opened us all up ready for our day of exploring the spiritual depths to mindfulness! Each day included some wonderful talks from Adrian, it was great to sit back and listen and feel the waves of realisation flutter through us all. Jason treated us all to some fun yet challenging workshops using movement and his trademark raspberries to destroy ego’s and embrace our inner child. In Paul’s School of Meditation we were shown some mind blowing meditation techniques – one which I can personally say was utterly amazing, Holotropic Breathing – it’s not for the faint hearted or anyone wanting to hold on to any mind identified stories of themselves!
In between our busy schedule and delicious meal times we enjoyed the space we had created, shared experiences, laughed a lot, cried some, got a bit of Reiki from Paulette and met each other in the moment with an open-ness, warmth and love that was a true blessing and a treat!
As a member of the Now Project team I was honoured to be there and hugely grateful that our first advanced retreat went so well. But what really blew me away was what this retreat did for me on a personal level… it’s timing was impeccable (thank you universe!) and the shifts I experienced within those 3 days are beyond words!
So thank you to all our wonderful Now Project family – to the guests who had me in a state of awe on more than one occasion to my ‘team mates’ who never fail to fill me with love and gratitude.
Sophie xx