Ahead of triyoga’s annual urban retreat – happening online in 2020 – Anna Ashby and Jean Hall shares some insight on the benefits of joining us for this opportunity to take a step back.
Retreat n. 1. an act of moving back or withdrawing.
For many years the ‘urban retreat’ at triyoga has taken place between Christmas and New Year and has become a triyoga tradition. It’s a rare and unique happening. Teachers from different backgrounds collaborate sharing their insight, crossing the boundaries of lineage and style. There is also a profound coming together of community from all walks of life, background and level of practice that creates a powerful two-way exchange of knowledge celebrated in collective practice. The retreat offers an enlivened space empowered by intention where a final moment can be taken to absorb the lessons of the year past, till the fertile ground and plant seeds for a new year to come.
Here are five good reasons to join us in the retreat experience this year:
> To pause, reflect and spend time with yourself. So much happens over the course of a year – joys and heartaches; accomplishments and tragedies; change both planned for and unexpected – all of which leave their mark in the structure of our bodies, the corridors of our minds and the subtle spaces of our soul. Taking time to reflect, see the whole arc of a year and discern what is felt allows for the transformation that is at the heart of yoga practice.
> To explore the meaning behind life and make sense of things. Sometimes the way things unfold makes no sense and a profound wound deep in the space of heart makes itself known through grief, anger or resistance and a mindset that can only see what’s missing. And yet the very effort we make to look, see and sort through the jumble of experience bears great fruit – an emergent pattern of understanding can irrevocably change our relationship with the present, gifting a view that is inclusive of Beauty.
> To go deeper into experience and practice. Time is precious. A life lived requires presence. Taking time to delve into experience through varied practices teaches the skill necessary to extract depth and the ability to savour it. A refined perception arises from discipline, precision and an open exploration which unlocks the fullness of a moment intricately tied to the depth of one’s being. Practice becomes a means that reveals the essence within the form.
> To experience community. While yoga offers an individual path towards fulfilment, it becomes magnified through community. A single flame joins together with many and its light and heat blaze forth – the power of discernment and transformation intensifies. A community that comes together in united purpose necessarily affirms the truth that each and every human being is precious and holds a piece of the jigsaw puzzle of life that when put together reveals the whole picture.
> To connect. And last but not least these two words hold such power. To connect with self, each other and the world expresses a deep joy at the heart of living – a most essential truth and perhaps the hardest lesson to realise. What does it actually mean to connect? What does it feel like? What happens when we begin to recognise and feel the tender movement of love at the very core of being?
And so the definition of retreat should further evolve from its origins in war…
Retreat n. 1. A conscious act of moving back or withdrawing in order to see, feel and deeply connect with self, others and the world.
Join Anna Ashby, Jean Hall and special guests Nikki Slade and Sarah Deco for ‘body mind soul: a three day online urban retreat’ from 29th to 31st December 2020.
