Sacha Paddy and Neal Ghoshal wish to thank all who came to the Sweet Surrender Retreat at Mana Retreat Centre, in August this year. A very beautiful time sharing our wild dance, exploring movement and yoga, singing and chanting up at the sanctuary.
Penelope Holmes, wrote this lovely poem about her experience:
Your biggest fear is being alone in the silence
Yet this is the next part of your journey
After the busy world of work, families, children, pets, the needs of others comes the time of stillness
Curling inwards to witness the true self
The weekend gives you the opportunity to see the path unfolding
Every possible moment is in the walk to Tara, the sanctuary
Walking, resting, noticing beauty
Entering the sacred space
Listening, hearing the tumbling water
The air breathing through the trees
Experiencing the symmetry of geometry
Black circle hands on pounamu the heart
The windows of oneness all religions
The track to Mana’s mountain
Touching the thirty million year old rock
Cheek to cheek
Finding my spot lying still in the grass watching
Islands and the sea, my childhood of sailing unfolding
I hear you in the call of the kaka parrot
Meeting, mating in that blue sky, flying free
This love, the huge enormous love lights the way forward
Thank-you Sacha my body hears the call, dance, surrender, be who I am
Thank-you Neal the essence of paying attention to every speck of kindness
to self and others, builds up the kind of knowing that will last a lifetime and beyond.
Thank you Mana – a place of peace kind to the soul
Penelope Holmes
