Going Inside Outdoors
It’s hot outside and the mercury is rising further this week ahead. What’s it like on the inside though? We know the weather and environment can influence our mind set and emotions, also what shapes these are our thoughts and thinking. Differentiating between a thought which arises, exists and dissolves, from thinking, is a really useful skill to master. We don’t have to identify with thoughts, engage with them and see them as our own. Many thoughts just arrive, we don’t think thoughts, they appear!
Non identification with thoughts doesn’t mean we ignore them, far from it, we allow them to exist, witnessing in the absence of becoming involved with them. As soon as we do, they cease as thoughts and become thinking. Much like watching clouds pass through the sky, we observe, without trying to figure out what type of cloud it is, how it was created or what shape it reminds us of. We just let it be there with no further enquiry. Its like this with non-identification of thoughts. It will pass if we leave it alone and that’s the rub, leaving it alone is often a very difficult endeavour, especially if the thought has an emotional charge attached to it.
During our Autumn Retreats in September we learn skills such as this and practice meditation, purposeful breathing, stillness and silence, along with movement (to get the endorphins flowing). We practice yoga, mindful movement, Tai Chi and venture on hikes into the mountains and valleys, passed stream and lakes. Always savouring how the natural elements are shaping our energy, emotions and mind.
We have three Retreats running in September all based from the mountain refuge Vieux Crest high above Champoluc in the Monterosa mountain range in the north west Italian Alps. Come and join us going inside outdoors, to recuperate, renew, rest, relax, learn, have companionship with likeminded gentle folk and to enjoy Italian food and hospitality.
All the details can be found here https://www.mindfulmountains.com/retreats/
Mindful Mountains – going inside outdoors
In Nature through Stillness and Movement with Awareness