Silence du Corps

One of the highlights of my trip to Europe was my 3 day meditation/yoga retreat at Clos Ermitage in Alsace, about an hour south of Strasbourg. The Clos Ermitage is an international wellness centre run by the Libre Universite du Samadeva and hosts a number of different retreats and programs. My retreat was called Silence du Corps and I spent 3 days being silent - both externally and internally. It was a time of introspection and also connection with the other people at the retreat. We were encouraged to interact at breaks and meal times, looking the others in the eye deeply to communicate, as well as offering service to others for serving food and drinks. That was one of the most rewarding parts of the experience - real deep connection with strangers without even speaking a word.

We spent our time meditating in 20 minute sessions, interspersed with Derviche yoga - a combination of standing hatha yoga and tai chi in my opinion. We also did some walking meditation, which was fabulous because the Voyges mountains at this time of year were absolutely spectacular with their beautiful fall colours and we were lucky to have sunshine the entire time. The second evening was a special session where outside guests connected to the Universite came in and we sang together. Although I didn't know the words, it was a great to feel the energy in the room as people came together in song. I have only ever experienced something similar when I attended church with my best friend in elementary school and the whole congregation sang together in happiness. It was amazing!

I had some truly wonderful meditation sessions where I felt peace, calm, love and the beauty of the planet flowing through me. I had only started meditating in July and unfortunately was not doing it on a daily basis. This experience really made me feel the value of meditation and realize I need to embed it in my daily life. Since being home I have managed to meditate for 20 minutes every morning every day except one. I really hope to keep this up - it is a wonderful way to begin my day and puts my mind and heart in the best place possible for my day. There was one break during the day where I sat outside and just observed nature. I watched a leaf fall from the top of a very tall Oak tree - soaring calmly to the ground like that was it's purpose all along. I saw a spider's silk catch the light and move a great distance from one tree to another. I listened to the sounds of the trees and the birds and it was just so great to take a moment to observe these things. This memory helps with my meditation now.

One other thing worth mentioning about this experience is that all of the guidance for the meditation and yoga was entirely en francais. I have not spoken or studied French since early 2005 and it was a bit of a shock to be thrown back into it. Our instructor spoke nice and slow though which made it fairly easy to understand most of it, and at least the gist of most of it. We had a couple of meditation sessions that were done to a recorded voice, of course in French, and I found this much easier to meditate to - my brain was forced to focus on understanding the French and it was not allowed to wander to other topics. Now when I have to bring my mind back to my breath during meditation, I think "j'inspire, pause, j'expire"and count my breaths en francais. It is an excellent way to bring my brain back to where it was in Alsace earlier this month and remember how it felt.

Overall it was an incredible experience and I am very thankful to my French colleague, Heidi, for finding this retreat for me. I feel very lucky to have almost randomly come across it and hope that I will someday be able to visit the Clos Ermitage again - preferably with a stronger understanding of French, Derviche yoga, and meditation!

For anyone hoping to start meditating, I would recommend trying the online course at http://beta.findmeditation.com. This is what I started in July and put me on this path.