Susan Urquhart-Brown and Christopher Brown are hosting a “Power of Presence” retreat in Tuscany. In addition to teaching yoga, Susan and Christopher are mindfulness inquiry teachers. They are passionate about individual transformation and facilitating others in their awakening process. This retreat will take you beyond your practice with daily yoga, meditation, and mindfulness workshops. In the evening you will come together for a time of sharing and personal growth. The hilltop Tuscan Villa retreat center is the perfect environment to explore and transform the cherished beliefs and ideas you hold about yourself, others, and the world. Join this dynamic duo in Italy from September 29-October 6 for a transcending journey. Learn more about what the power of presence means to leader, Christopher, and read experts from his writings below!
TIGER
It seems that life is like dancing with a tiger, one must be a skilled dancer while also staying mindful, so not to miss the subtle cues from this powerful animal. One missed cue, one wrong step, and the tiger can pounce! So perhaps the most important thing to learn is the balance and flow of life. These qualities that are taught by working with the river. Finding that sweet spot where the hydraulics carry you between the rocks and not into them. To become completely natural and in tuned, to be one with the tiger.
The question now is this; when is it the time to read a book, to listen to a lecture, or to simply sit with the heartbeat of the tiger?
“The primary task of a good spiritual teaching is not to answer your questions, but to question your answers. For it is your conscious and unconscious assumptions and beliefs that distort your perception and cause you to see separation and division where there is only unity and completeness. Adyashanti”
Oneness and the habit of focus
At Power of Presence gatherings, we use the term oneness a lot, but how often do we reflect on just what it is? When we point to the interconnectedness of everything, as Craig Braden has coined in the Divine Matrix, it’s easy to say “yes” we are all connected by air, gravity, DNA, and the sun. So, why don’t we feel connected?
The first thing to consider is the power of language. The divide that is created where no separation is possible. Take fingers and hand, note how language takes this seamless reality and divides it up into 1000 pieces. We believe in the pieces and we miss the whole picture. Fingers cannot exist separately from the hand, nor hands exist separately from the body. Yes, the habit of speaking focuses on the part and not the whole.
Our language is designed for sharp focus and dividing up reality so that we miss the big picture and forget to use our wide focus. When we choose wide focus, we take in the whole panorama, not just the pieces.
Taking in the panorama of life, something happens within us. We are silent, relaxed, and fall back into ourselves. When we are truly present, with no side, that the experience of wholeness arises. At first, the experience of oneness and unity cannot be maintained in the mind as it begins to chatter again. Yet, each time we touch this presence, this silence, we form a new habit and a greater appreciation of oneness and begin to focus on how we are connected.
Written by Christopher Brown
Learn more about the Power of Presence Italy Retreat here:
http://truenaturetravels.com/retreats/yoga-italy-susan-christopher/
