Om, Hari Om!

2000 feet above Pohara Beach, up a very steep, ‘long and winding road’, we discovered the Anahata (Heart-centre) Yoga Retreat – see www.anahata-retreat.org.nz Getting to the top of the ‘hill’ stretched our nerves a little – not knowing whether our van would make it, and having to drive through three small fords! We eventually arrived at Anahata in brilliant sunshine and were immediately spellbound. The views are stunning, the neighbours few and far between, the lifestyle simple and relaxed, the food enticing and the people very different to anything we had encountered previously. We were made to feel very welcome, offered a tour, and the opportunity to stay for a week of ‘participation experience’ – which we did!

We had an interesting and in many ways challenging week. We met some fascinating people, had lunch one day at the founder’s house (Gorgeous - lunch and the house, not to mention the view!), did a lot of early morning chanting and yoga, followed by lots of karma yoga (work with awareness!), yoga nidra (deep relaxation), and we took part in several havans (fire ceremonies) including one on ‘the night of the dark moon’ – Shivaratri – a big celebration in India to honour the marriage of Shiva and Shakti and to acknowledge the power and energy of Shiva to transform.

Every morning, after morning practice (6:00) and breakfast (7:30), we would all gather in circle (8:15) to discuss the day ahead, who’d been allocated what work for the day, say goodbye to anyone leaving, and share anything anyone wanted to share. I found a wonderful book of poetry in their library from which I shared the following five poems:

“Wake up to another day

Only to continue yesterday”

“Tomorrow

When I wake

I will see today”

“You are speaking

And I am listening

But where is the speaker?”

“Tomorrow will always be

For some and not for others

Who cares?”

“I am therefore

you are

In the presence

Of the present

we are”

Amusing, inspiring and very thought-provoking, don’t you think? We enjoyed them. Hope you do too.

So, we spent our 100^th day in New Zealand stretching and balancing our bodies, hearts and minds in the height of beauty, including some very colourful, playful, native and wild parrots, called Keas, who literally ate my shoes!

Now, we’re back down the hill – ‘back down to earth’ perhaps? Enjoying a couple of days rest to integrate all that we experienced and learned at Anahata.

Then, we’re planning to journey around the rest of Golden Bay before returning to visit the Riverside Community and Nelson.

More next time ...

Love Richard and Julie xxx