Listen

Have you ever noticed that the words ‘listen’ and ‘silent’ are composed of the same letters?

the cloud lifts while walking with my family in the high Pyrenees this summer

In her poem ‘Clearing’, Martha Postlethwaite writes ‘...create a clearing in the dense forest of your life and wait there patiently, until the song that is your life falls into your own cupped hands and you recognise and greet it. Only then will you know how to give yourself to this world so worthy of rescue.’

To me, her words describe the art of listening.

To listen, we must first create a space to receive. Have you ever noticed that the words ‘listen’ and ‘silent’ are composed of the same letters? Listening is not the same as participating in the often looping ramblings of our inner storylines. To truly listen is to ‘enter the silence’ enough to receive (and respond) from a place of greater perspective, clarity and ease. Like climbing a mountain to view the whole terrain.

Rather than falling blind and deaf into habitual pathways and potholes, listening takes us to a reservoir within of innate wisdom, compassion and delight. What greater gifts than these could we offer this world, so worthy of rescue?

It takes practice, of course, to create a clearing. It also takes practice to recognise and greet all that we receive. The noise of self-doubt, judgement and criticism can be deafening at times, and the compulsions to hold on, push away and escape are deeply imprinted in our DNA.

But practice is possible. And as we learn to listen with curiosity and care, our relationship towards life begins to change. Things still hurt when they are painful, of course. But the sense of overwhelm and dis-ease relaxes. As does the feeling that what’s alive right now is not safe to be felt. When we listen, everything becomes a messenger. There is always a gift hidden somewhere in the struggle.

The story of the Buddha’s final moments of awakening can be interpreted in this light as well. When challenged by the spirit Mara with ‘and who are YOU to claim to have understood the truth of reality?’, the Buddha responded by touching the Earth. He received Mara’s challenge without losing himself in the story of self-doubt. In touching the Earth he came instead into deeper alignment and trust. The answer was simple: this was no egoic delusion because the truth of reality had never been a creation of his mind. He had simply created a clearing and sat patiently until the full symphony of life had landed into his own cupped hands. The Earth had spoken, and he had listened.

If you are feeling called to create a clearing in your life and listen deeply right now, please join me in London for a very special collaborative workshop with yoga, meditation and live medicine music on September 23rd.

Please join me also in France for a life-changing silent retreat from October 9-15, where you will find all the time, practices and loving support you need to create a clearing in the dense forest of your life and receive the song that you are with love.

More details below.

London Workshop

I am honoured to co-host a workshop at Love Supreme Projects with the world renowned virtuosic sound healer Shervin Boloorian, as part of his European tour. Together, Shervin and I will weave a magic tapestry of gentle, heart-softening yin yoga, wisdom teachings, meditation and live sound medicine. We will explore the arts of receiving and releasing which are the natural fruits of true listening. Allow yourself to be transformed from within by the vibrational medicine of live sacred music, alongside a harmonisation of the kidney meridian (which regulates hearing) through the Taoist practice of yin yoga. When these two sacred practices are combined with a clear intention to receive the song of your life with wisdom, compassion and delight, magic happens. 

It feels like such a blessing that Shervin and I to have been able to come together while he is on tour from his home on Bali. We really hope you are able to join us for this very special and serendipitous collaboration! Tickets are available on a sliding scale and open for booking here.

France retreat

I am equally honoured to be guiding a wonderful group of you on a silent yoga and meditation retreat in France at the Moulin de Chaves from October 9-15, a place very close to my heart. As a dedicated retreat centre grounded in Buddhist meditation, the land overflows with presence, beauty and devotion. A flowing river, bamboo grove and abundant gardens surround the purpose-built practice and living spaces. Weaving together silence and dialogue, movement and stillness, community and nature immersion, you will be guided on an intimate and profound journey of inner and outer listening which will leave you transformed. 

There are only a few spaces remaining on this retreat and it will be the last I am teaching for some time, so if you feel inspired to join us, let me know soon! To find out more, read about it here or email me with any questions.

May our listening guide us towards receiving the songs that are our lives with wisdom, compassion and delight! As we remember our own unique songs, may we sing the world back into remembrance in turn. May it be so!

“To love a person is to learn the song that is in their heart and to sing it to them when they have forgotten.” ~ Arne Garborg