A big thank you to all who participated in the
Spring 2011 Stillness & Movement Mountain Retreat
— a huge milestone in the diverse offerings from EWCP!
Over 50 participants, several flying in from abroad, kicked off a fabulously enjoyable weekend on the gorgeous slopes of YangMing Shan last Friday April 29th. After dinner and a brief orientation, most chose to retire early, although a few couldn’t resist the lure of the on-site world-class hot springs.
Saturday dawned bright and early with a “Good Morning” session of Qi Gong to get everyone limbered up and fully awake, before we trooped off for a dazzling smorgasbord of a breakfast. Back in the huge and spacious “classroom” space, the participants were introduced to the safest and most effective position for meditation known as the Seven Points Meditation Posture. The instructors built on that foundation with a more advanced visualization technique, explaining the steps we would practice later that afternoon.
Next, the group split up into a Hatha Yoga class with Jen and those who could wait no longer to soak in the luscious hot springs.
Everyone reconvened for a delicious and healthy lunch where the practice of mindfulness was put to the test while we all tried to eat no more than we needed. With all those choices, what a challenge!
Qi Gong exercises come in many forms, and after lunch was the perfect time to learn how to help move our digestion, proceeding to an all-around-wellness series of qi gong exercises that promote circulation of both blood and qi, allowing anyone with a daily practice of these sets of simple movements to quite easily and profoundly increase physical and mental energy, strength and immunity to disease over time. Thank you Mike and Neil for such great instruction!
Having fully moved into ease in our bodies, we sat down on simple meditation cushions to practice two beautiful visualizations employing colors and images to focus the mind and further purify our qi. Although more complex than just focusing on the breath, many people found the visualizations quite helpful in giving the restless Monkey-Mind some guidance in how to stay present.
Great job, everyone and a well-deserved break before we relaxed together over a multi-course dinner, savoring the flavors and textures of Chinese cuisine.
After dinner on Saturday, a quick Qi Gong review to help everyone remember the series we worked on earlier, then settling into an acclaimed Korean film about Cha’an or Zen Buddhism. The night ended in the same way for just about everyone: taking another opportunity for a long soak in the beautiful hot springs complex with its rocky waterfall, different temperature pools and special hydrotherapy options at the push of a button, like the curtain-of-rain water massage!
Sunday morning - Qi Gong for the early risers, breakfast and another split into Hatha Yoga with Debbie or a Mindful Nature Hike with Eric. Chatting to all the interesting people in our hiking group was a great opportunity to share the experience, then on our walk way back to the resort we tried something different, namely walking in companionable silence to see how being fully mindful changed the nature walk experience. Suddenly, the bird songs stood out… the green on the leaves around the path… we felt our journey back through our feet stepping firmly on the earth and the fresh air filling our lungs… Nothing like working up a good sweat in the beautiful mountain air to remind you how wonderful it is to be alive.
The two groups reconvened to go through our now-more-familiar meditation techniques under Lauren’s experienced guidance and relaxed while waiting for our guest of honor, the Venerable Khenchen Rinpoche to arrive. Together with the new arrivals, we all shared another amazing lunch in the resort’s bright and spacious dining room and got ready for the most direct and inspiring teachings of the entire weekend.
Khenchen Rinpoche has been teaching students around the world for over 30 years to find, understand and transform their minds so they can be fully present and open to the present moment. We were treated to a truly unique experiential meditation followed by a spontaneous Q&A session, both of which were testament to Rinpoche’s incredible depth of personal practice and achievement, as well as the ability to answer directly to the person asking a question, essentially giving highly individualized advice that at the same time can benefit everyone listening.
All of us at EWCP are deeply grateful to our unparalleled teacher for honoring us with his wisdom and time out of his very full schedule to guide the retreat participants deeply into the practice of seeing our minds and gaining the feelings of ease and control in our own lives.
We closed the retreat with a celebratory meal, preparing us for the return journey home and the transition we would all undergo back into our daily lives. Although a relatively short time away, we hope everyone who attended got a much needed rejuvenating rest and some easy-to-practice but highly effective techniques to continue developing the skill of being free and at ease in any moment in our lives.
We’re already pondering everyone’s very valuable feedback to make our next retreat even better and more unique. Stay tuned for more information, with a tentative date planned for the end of this year.
Keep the fantastic rejuvenated glow and we’ll see you all soon!
~ the East West Culture Project
