Integritus Prime

I’m interrupting my India series with a post about what’s local and timely. Last weekend I co-hosted a Heartful Wellness Retreat in Suva, almost two weeks since I returned from India. It was a free event aimed at introducing individuals to heartfulness meditation, hatha yoga, and behavioral approaches to wellness. My esteemed partners in wellness crime were Sashi Kiran of FRIEND fame, and yoga goddess Ilana Burness.

The first day started off with heartfulness meditation, then some guided reflection from yours truly. Ilana took us through what she aptly calls mindful movement – a series of yoga actions led by our breathing, outdoors under some stunning trees. After this session, I felt that world peace was happening in my heart – no joke. I had forgotten how powerful yoga is, and Ilana gracefully reminded me. Her classes are very accessible to people of various ages and levels of flexibility.  After a break, we continued with more meditation.

Some of us reported improved and lengthened sleep after Day 1. On Day 2, we began with yoga, again outdoors with a soft breeze. We then went indoors for heartfulness meditation. After a break, I facilitated a session on visualizing our wellness outcomes, setting goals, and overcoming obstacles to meeting them. This session was well-received, and when we closed after more heartfulness meditation, participants wanted more. More retreats, more opportunities for taking time to nourish themselves at the mind, body, heart, and soul levels.

We will be collaborating to offer more retreats in the future – stay tuned.

3 key benefits we provided in this retreat, through our collaboration, are:

1. A mind-body-heart-soul integration and connection through meditation, yoga, behavior change tactics, and reflection.
2. An opportunity to address real obstacles to meeting wellness goals in a multi-modal way.
3. Immediate benefits of meditation, yoga, and behavioral wellness activities, as well as the option to use these tools in the future.

I’ll leave you with some feedback from our participants, because it’s always powerful to hear  from their hearts:

“I liked structured activities that give take-home things e.g. journal activities & goal setting. Practical and hands on.”

“‘I am in control'” is one of the main messages that I will take from this experience.”

“What if this retreat became embedded into the community, e.g. part of a project within the school system and prisons?” 

If you like what you’re reading, let’s chat about how to infuse wellness into your organization or community.

This retreat provided a return to yoga for me after some time away from it, and it was blissful. Photo Credit: Sashi Kiran