Retreat Beyond Belief



Want to learn more about the infinite layers of yoga? Read Yoga Beyond Belief by Ganga White. I've read it 5-6 times...glean an insight I overlooked each time. Anatomy, philosophy, dynamics of energies, yoga history...each sentence is worth reading.

Yoga practice, mindset, or overall life need a tune up with like minded kindred spirits? Attend Deepen Your Practice retreat at the White Lotus Foundation in Santa Barbara, California. Words are insufficient to adequately elaborate the completely complex details of energy exchanged; but, I will humbly attempt to share my experience.

25 people from different places, different levels of yoga experience, different pursuits, different ages...united in sameness via the ultimate intangible energy of love and a shared desire to learn more about the practice of yoga. Some came with a fading hope of humanity's core of existence...some came grieving scary changes in life...some came anxious to explore the unfamiliar...some came back to get re-inspired and de-toxed from sameness.

Divinely designed circadian rhythm respected by awakening to the sun. Body's energy levels moved higher in a brilliantly constructed and vitalizing practice mid morning. Nourished with vegetarian meals that literally were an orchestrated concert for the taste buds. Each flavor, like notes of music, made it's presence known and faded to give the next one it's chance to sing. The chef is an artist. Literally. The artwork she paints is equally expressed in her creations with food. Each cell of the body absorbs the wisely combined nutrients and you feel it doing its magic.

Body completely moved, restored and nourished. Then, you can explore the abudance Nature has to offer. Hike. Jump off a cliff and swim in water holes. Lay in the softest, greenest grass and welcome the sun rays in your skin. Meditate with yours eyes wide open. It is too beautiful not to allow Nature's artwork to kiss your eyes. Laugh with friends you didn't know you had waiting for you. Enjoy listening to the winds whispers, the distant vibrational frequency of life's energetic buzz...you remember, if you forgot, that you're the captain of your ship. For some, it is a paradigm shift of direction. As long as you can continue to practice balance with changes, your vessel (life) will keep moving forward.

No contrived living for a week. You get courage each day to be nomadic in your choices of each moment. What is equally beautiful is the comrades support and encouragement of your emerging charisma. You dance to the promiscuity of simply being yourself...not a mentally fabricated expected version. The unedited version...imagined faults and all. Smiles shared in place of words for the quiet. Laughs exchanged unabashedly. How unbelievably uplifting, freeing and uniting. So many stories of other's lives...some noble, some sanguine, some abundantly full or precariously low. Yet, somehow...some way...we help each other. Strangers the moment we meet the first day and heart linked friends the day we physically part ways.

Each kindred connection sheds some light through the cracks within you. The inspiration ignited by the process of retreating in the surroundings of nature, no technology, healthy/delicious food, and new friends is priceless. You can't wait to share it with others. The heart and mind of White Lotus latches your attention and provides you strength to pursue intentions. It feels like being a kite drifting in the wind. The thin white string of White Lotus is your link and keeps you from drifting aimlessly, yet permits you to sway with the invisible air that moves you. You learn the balance of flying high and finding your middle ground. You realize change creates strength.

Did I learn more yoga moves and nuances? A plethora of them. Did I learn more anatomy? You bet I did. Did I deepen my practice? No question. What I personally came back with dances between the tangible and intangible. Don't know if I can teach it; but, I will definitely radiate the energy of it. It is an auspicious treat too delicious not to share.

Ganga expresses it perfectly with his words: "It is the immeasurable that is reflective of the spiritual."

Much gratitude to Ganga White and Tracey Rich for your passionate process of blending the pearls of the past with the gems of now.

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