Sweet Miracles

Oh cool… there is wifi even in the garden, which means i can type this entry while sitting on the chair swing in the retreat garden which overlooks the lake and smaller volcano. It’s such a beautiful morning. The sun has been up since 6 am, same time as my waking time (and it felt so bright i thought i overslept till 8+ am!). There was a slight mist over the garden earlier on, and now there is still a slight haze, which gives the place a romantic dreamy effect.

Yesterday was 3rd day and we had a crystal workshop in the morning. Riza who is a truly grounded and funny lady full of grace and wisdom gave a short powerpoint presenation on crystals, which was followed by hands-on for doing chakra testing and balancing with the use of crystals. I paired up with Mr Gua Gua and we tested each other. Not gonna talk about his results, except to say that he was quite miffed when he tested mine, cos mine was ALL open (which was err… kinda in contrast to his? ), especially heart chakra and crown chakra. Yehh!

Lunch was salad – yummilicious crisp leaves and turnip slices. After that we went to this lovely place with 2 hammocks and had a nice post-lunch nap. Rocking in the hammock, with amazing scenary around me and the cool fresh air on my skin, didn’t take me too long to go into la la land!

After that was the kai arnis workshop where we learnt the Philippines martial arts. We learnt how to hold the stick that indicates we want to combat (basically in any posture, EXCEPT holding the stick in our arms like a baby) and did warm up by swinging our sticks at different angles. Then the fighting began!

Mr Gua Gua was my partner AGAIN… and we had great fun beating each other up. LOL! I was really happy swinging the sticks at him. Reminds me of the time when i used to play tennis and would get a high lashing at the ball with all my might. At one point Mr Gua Gua went to the loo and Joemar, our facilitator, came over to practise with me. Wow… it’s so different doing it with him. His strokes are light and graceful. Our “fighting” became faster and faster, that everyone in the room heard and stopped to watch us. Joemar even added some footwork as he swung at me, and he encouraged me to do the same. I felt so natural doing this. Later someone told me i looked like i am in the flow. Hmm, maybe i really used to be Xena in the past (a nick i used to have)!

Dinner was…salad again. People have been finding different ways to spice it up with the condiments avaialble – sesame oil, cayenne pepper, lime juice, and this interesting sap from coconut tree which tastes just like honey but apparently is very digestible. I found balsamic vinegar, haha, so got yet a different taste for my salad. Sounds like i’m complaining but i’m really enjoying the food so far. Have always been a veggies person anyway, and the veggies here are wonderfully fresh, so i’m happy.

Last session was Inner Dance again, this time without any partnering so all of us did it on our own. Tonight i was a dancer from different cultures. I felt like i was doing ballet, free-style, tribal, Indian… i have never taken formal dance classes before and always had the wish to do so. This night, i confirmed for myself that i have been a dancer before, because i twirled around and moved my body like i knew the steps, and just needed a little reminder and practice to get into it again. I danced and I smiled, cos i never knew my body could move in this way, and i allowed my body to take over my brain. I danced till i sweated, and then my body went into lying position, where i slowed down a little, but still twirling my wrists, and stretching my legs up in the air. Then a nice song came and i got up to dance somemore. At one point, i felt like i was dancing with an invisible lover, and my heart ached for him. Most of the time, i was just dancing with Spirit, in Spirit, BEING Spirit.

Finally it was time to stop and i came back to my meditation mat. They played Song of Metta, and i felt the love washing over me. Then someone started Om-ing, and cos that’s something i was so familiar with, i spontaneously joined in. We had this impromptu orchestra of voices, and I merged my voice into it, Om-ing in choral tones. Daniw, Pi’s partner, was singing in this hauntingly lovely tone, and i instinctively coordinated my oms with hers. Others joined in in their own way, and the result was mesmerising. If only someone recorded it down… it would make a lovely cd gift for everyone!

Later someone asked Daniw about her singing and she said she didn’t know the words, and she usually doesn’t sing. This was the 2nd time she was doing this, and the last was 2 years back. How lucky we are to be able to enjoy such wondrous sounds that felt like it came from the stars in the universe!

Ok, time for morning taichi, which is led by the senior sister here, Sister Mary. Will write another time.