This next few days I am preparing for my 2 week solitary retreat.
My preparations for the retreat are as follows:
1) Slowly increase my practice to 2 hours a day. A mix of sitting meditation, walking meditation, mindfulness in everyday tasks. This should help prevent my mind from going into shock at my meditation schedule next week!
2) Talking only when necessary. This helps to instill calmness and helps me to control my flitting mind by giving me more space to be mindful of what I say. I will be starting this in ernest tomorrow.
3) Move more gently and with awareness. Again, this will help to make me feel generally calmer.
4) Food preparations. I don't want to have to think too much about what I am going to eat everyday. So I am planning now what I will have. There'll be no popping out to the shops for two weeks, so I want to make sure that the important stuff is not forgotton!
4) Study material. Books and other writings.
5) Retreat book. I have a note book that I take with me on all my retreats and keep a sort of diary. It is an eye opener!
6) Bedding
7) Outdoor gear - hillwalking will be a part of this retreat.
8) Bivvy gear - I may want to go out into the hills and bivvy a night or two.
9) Spinning gear. I have decided one of my mindfulness practices is going to be handspinning. So I'll be taking some slivers and a wheel. I might decide not to take these though come friday.
10) Carving tools
11) Art things
12) Elm Dance. I will do the Elm Dance everyday morning and evening as my opening and closing ritual. It is a powerful dance that will help to connect me to the Great Turning movement across the world and ground me in my practice, help me to remember why I am doing this retreat. Which is another post entirely!
So, you see, I am going to have plenty to be occupied with. A solitary retreat is what you want it to be. Mindfulness and meditation is the main core practice of this retreat and creativity and nature is the theme. We'll see what happens after a few days though!
hen
xxx
Hello and a warm welcome, my name is Hen. This blog follows my journey to finally fulfilling my lifetimes dream of building my own no-dig market garden and home in Devon. It's full of all sorts, scroll right down the links and labels on the left hand side to see if there's anything that interests you. I might take this blog back up.. a lot has changed!
Showing posts with label Practice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Practice. Show all posts
Solitary Retreat and Mindfulness
At the end of next week I'll be going off for a 2 week solitary retreat. It'll be in a very remote place and I am really looking forward to it. I have decided that I am going to blog about parts of this retreat.
Going on retreat, for me, is very important. It's like an electric jolt to the spiritual system. Which is a terrible analogy, but it's late! I'll be going on the retreat without a time table or plan, as open minded as possible. It'll be good to see what emerges. There will be a simple format of meditation throughout the day, but nothing too taxing initially. I will be taking one rule with me...
There is one thing that has been lolling about in my mind the past few weeks, Mindfulness. So mindfulness might become a theme of the retreat, who knows.
Mindfulness is the practice of being aware in everyday actions and reactions. It's not that easy for me, but I suppose that's why it's a practice.
The word 'practice' is my key word. Just like everything that I want to do in life, I have to practice in order to get good at any of it.
Day to day practice is hard though. Happily I've managed to stop beating myself up for not meditating every day or not doing lots of nice things for the world. It was just stopping me meditating and doing nice things for the world. So, I'm a bit kinder to myself and it seems to be doing the trick.
The solitary retreat may help me to strip away a few more of the trillion things that weigh down Hen and let me have a good old shake and come away a bit refreshed.
... Or I might go mad.
To be perfectly honest, I'm apprehensive about going, as well as excited!
;o)
hen
xxx
Going on retreat, for me, is very important. It's like an electric jolt to the spiritual system. Which is a terrible analogy, but it's late! I'll be going on the retreat without a time table or plan, as open minded as possible. It'll be good to see what emerges. There will be a simple format of meditation throughout the day, but nothing too taxing initially. I will be taking one rule with me...
be kind to my mind or it'll run away!
There is one thing that has been lolling about in my mind the past few weeks, Mindfulness. So mindfulness might become a theme of the retreat, who knows.
Mindfulness is the practice of being aware in everyday actions and reactions. It's not that easy for me, but I suppose that's why it's a practice.
The word 'practice' is my key word. Just like everything that I want to do in life, I have to practice in order to get good at any of it.
Day to day practice is hard though. Happily I've managed to stop beating myself up for not meditating every day or not doing lots of nice things for the world. It was just stopping me meditating and doing nice things for the world. So, I'm a bit kinder to myself and it seems to be doing the trick.
The solitary retreat may help me to strip away a few more of the trillion things that weigh down Hen and let me have a good old shake and come away a bit refreshed.
... Or I might go mad.
To be perfectly honest, I'm apprehensive about going, as well as excited!
;o)
hen
xxx
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