Living in sacredness

plus workshops and retreats

Artwork by Shen www.returntotheway.org

Dear friends,

As you can see, I’ve moved over to Substack. Partly to inspire me to start sharing more frequently again (for the last two years my writing energy has mostly been flowing into a book), partly to inspire you to join in the conversation with your comments, and partly to have a space where this growing conversation is archived so that we can build on topics over time. I’m also going to share about upcoming workshops and retreats, which you’ll find at the end.

Those of you who have followed me here from my mailing list, you don’t need to do anything - these messages will continue to arrive in your inbox, just like this, as before. And those of you who have recently subscribed, welcome!

My intention is to share reflections on how to respond to life’s challenges and delights in ways which bring growth, freedom and liberation. It’s a path of living beyond war, or to turn that around, a path of living in Love. I will be sharing what this actually means and how it might be possible to embody in everyday life. For the last 30 years I have been exploring the potential of yoga, meditation and the Dharma (the teachings of the Buddha) to liberate the body, heart and mind. More recently (over the last 6 years) I have been blessed with a deep dive into the animistic cosmology of the Andes, which has opened new avenues of connection for me. With deeper connection has come deeper surrender, and with deeper surrender, new levels of possibility.

Where these supports and anchors meet the friction of life is where the heat of transformation unfolds. What ‘life’ really means is a flow of relationships: with ourselves, each other and the world. These relationships reflect back to us who we really are as well as who we are not. On the one hand, they illuminate the path when we are lost and give courage when we are afraid. On the other, they show us where our triggers are and expose to us what we do not yet see. And it is also through our relationships that we express who we are.

In other words, if we choose to receive it as such, life is both a classroom for soul growth and a playground for soul expression. This is a perceptual shift. Rather than receiving it as a battleground and going to war with this moment, getting what we want, pushing away what we don’t want and distracting ourselves from the void which appears to stretch in between, we choose to ask new questions. With both humility and courage, we ask, “What can I learn from this moment?”, “What is asking to be loved?” and “What can I offer in return?” We discover that by choosing to relate in a new way, our experience of life changes.

If I were to distil the essence of all this into a few words, it would be the invitation to live in sacredness. The sacredness of the great mysteries of this body, heart and mind; of nature, spirit, love and life itself. Whenever we allow this moment to come to us and meet it wholeheartedly, we enter into a sacred relationship with it.

The relational nature of all things was the Buddha’s foundational insight. It also lays the ground for an understanding of sacredness. The Buddha’s dedicated commitment to direct experience revealed that everything is codependently arising and dissolving in each moment, influencing and being influenced by everything else. Several thousand years later, quantum physicists agreed: everything in the universe exists both in a relationship and as a relationship.

This means that everything matters. Each and every thing is participating in the unfolding of this great mystery and the impact of our actions are unimaginably vast.

It means that everything is precious. Each and every thing is slipping through our fingers, fleeting and effervescent, even as we read these words.

It reminds us that we and all things are inseparable, responsible, ageing… and sacred.

Knowing this, what do we choose to do with this one wild and precious life? Rather than experiencing ourselves as victims to life’s random or vindictive nature and bouncing around from one unconscious reaction to the next, what would happen if we chose to receive the friction of suffering as an invitation to attend with great care, instead? What would happen if we chose to pause before we react, giving time to come into the body and breathe deeply, first? If we chose to relax our obsessive and defensive narratives and soften the grip of our limiting beliefs for long enough to feel what is here, with love? How would our lives begin to change if we lovingly embraced our emotions, so that they no longer hijacked us from shadowy suppression or impulsive reactivity? How would our relationships unfold if we responded with this same curiosity and care to others around us, taking responsibility for our own hearts as we listened to theirs? How would the world look and feel if we honoured it as a living and sacred being into whose web we are inseparably woven?

How might we live these questions into our lives?

Workshops and retreats

Reading and reflecting are helpful supports on our journey, but deep and lasting transformation happens when we embody these teachings in daily life. The process of embodiment happens through a combination of deep immersion into sacredness, combined with bringing this connection back into everyday life. It is where the vertical meets the horizontal - as seen in the symbol of the cross - that the sacred and the profane become one. 

I invite you to join me on retreat to strengthen a connection to your body, heart and mind, to the natural and Spirit worlds and to the beautiful community of heart-opening souls who will join you there. I also invite you to come to the monthly workshops I will be holding in London where we will re-establish these connections, and explore where we fall back into the forgetfulness of reactivity in everyday life. The more we recognise the triggers of reactivity, the more we are empowered to choose another way, next time. We also have a WhatsApp group (called LOVE, of course) where we share more intimate and everyday experiences and support each other along the way.

Here’s a summary of events already confirmed this year, and below is more information about them. 

• London workshop: February 25 from 1.30-3.30pm, Love Supreme Projects

• London workshop: March 25 from 1.30-3.30pm, Love Supreme Projects

• UK retreat: May 20-26, Sharpham House, Devon

• Online week of daily meditation: June 26-30 from 7-8am, Sangha Live 

• France retreat: October 9-15, Moulin de Chaves, near Perigueux 

London Workshops

These (roughly) monthly Saturday afternoon workshops will be held in a stunning light- and love-filled space at Love Supreme Projects, Golborne Road, West London. 

We will practise yoga, meditation and ceremony together to anchor ourselves deeply in sacredness. From here we will reflect on an aspect of relationship where we tend to lose ourselves in reactivity - whether with others, ourselves or the world. As well as yoga and meditation, there will be some dyad work (meditative reflection in pairs) or journaling (this will always be an option for those who prefer to work alone) to discover the beliefs that we are ready to hold more lightly, and the feelings that we are ready to embrace with love. All of this will be held in a joyful and heartful container, with space for physical practice, silence, questions and answers, tears, laughter and friendship.

Please book here.

Retreats

A week-long silent retreat is the most beautiful and profound way to dive into these teachings. We are deeply held by time, place, practice, each other and… an indescribable magic… on retreat. The need to get somewhere and achieve something relaxes into a timeless space of deep intimacy with life: nowhere to go, nothing to do other than love this, here, now. The retreat centres in Devon and France have been particularly chosen because of the aliveness and vitality of the natural world around them. Both are dedicated centres for meditation with beautiful swimming rivers flowing through or around them. The spaces are extraordinary and inspirational, the food is vegetarian, organic, mostly home-grown and always exquisite. Held in this web of profound support, we relax through layers of tension, release what no longer serves us and plant the seeds for what we are ready to grow. We come home to sacredness.

It would be great if those of you who have been on retreat with me before could say something about your experience in the comments below? I’m sure it would help others who haven’t been before. I often go straight to the reviews when I’m considering something new. You can also read more here and reserve your space or find out more by replying to this email (or emailing me on ayala@ayalagill.com).

Online with Sangha Live

I am delighted to be offering a week of daily meditations with the online Dharma community Sangha Live from June 26-30, 7-8am UK time. The hour will include 10-15 minutes of Dharma teaching on a theme of being in sacred relationship, 30 minutes meditation and 15 minutes interactive Q&A. 

Bookings haven’t yet opened for this yet, but please mark your calendars! I will let you know when it is up on their schedule. It will be especially beautiful to have this continuation of practice in daily life for those of you who are joining me on retreat in May - so I hope many of you will come to both!

Payment (Dana)

A word about payment… 

I offer all my work using the Dana system, which is an ancient method of conscious exchange founded in the teachings of the Buddha. It’s a way of making money sacred too. Dana is a practice of both giving and receiving which invites us to receive experiences of gratitude, generosity and appreciation as well as feelings of scarcity and lack. It asks that we look more closely at our motivation and expectations, inviting us to step out of a transaction mindset (how much can I get from this moment and how little can I give?) and into a generosity mindset (how deeply can I receive this moment and what would I like to offer in return?) Dana helps us strengthen the nourishing flow of reciprocal and sacred relationship by bringing it into everyday life.

​For the London Workshops, Dana is not compatible with their payment system, so they have kindly agreed to offer a sliding scale from £20-£60 (supporting both me and the centre).

For the retreats, you will be asked to pay for your food and accommodation when you register. If you are unable to pay the full price, you are welcome to apply for an assisted place. After the retreat I will ask you to reflect on what you received from the week and what you would like to offer to support me in return. 

For the daily meditations at Sangha Live, you will be invited to support both me and the platform by Dana after each morning meditation.

If you feel moved to support me and my work through Substack, you are welcome to change from a free to a paid subscription, or donate a different amount below. You won’t receive any different content (this is all offered freely), but you will be supporting me as well as this platform (10% of anything you pay goes to Substack).

Thank you so much.

Reach out!

I would love to hear from you - whether you have reflections from my reflections, questions about any of these events, or questions you would like me to respond to (here or more personally).

Please also share this with anyone you think might resonate. Let’s grow this community of Love together!

Let’s learn to live in sacredness.

Love Ayala