In a beautiful beachfront retreat centre, in the most picturesque of surrounds, 50 people gathered for a week of relaxation, rejuvenation and regeneration at “Summer Yoga: An Island Retreat”.
Bornholm is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, which lies to the east of Denmark, south of Sweden. It is famed for its magnificent sandy beaches, cliffs, historical ruins, and ceramics and glassware artisans, and has become a popular tourist destination for Scandinavians, Poles and Germans. It has also claimed the title of being “the sunniest part of Denmark” – a highly coveted position.
The retreat this year was dedicated to health and healing and explored topics including the traditional medicine of Ayurveda, heliotherapy, yoga nidra, the principles of spiritual healing, the healing power of plants, mindfulness, and purification and its principles. Every day saw a new approach to healing, from a different angle of the human being, focusing on a different level. In this way we covered the needs of the human being from all the levels and in all the ways needed to ensure good health and perfect harmony. We practiced different techniques for physical, emotional and mental purification, and kept lectures covering all these aspects of life. We discovered ways to harness our inner restorative powers through increased awareness about our own healing powers and by understanding the spiritual principles behind healing.
Our regeneration and rejuvenation possibilities reach their maximum with the peaking energies of the sun so now was the perfect moment to delve into this.
Midsummer in Denmark is the most beautiful time of the year. The days leading up to the summer solstice are long, the light is heavenly, and the nature blossoms in all her glory. I cannot think of a better place in Denmark to connect with the healing energies of nature than Bornholm. The presence of subtle entities can be easily felt and the nature is largely untouched.
At the moment of sunrise on the 21st June 2013 we gathered for a meditation of this peak moment of the summer energies for a special meditation done in a yang spiral formation. The meditation was done in unison with several other groups also meditating in a yang spiral. Together these groups made up two equilateral triangles. The points of the first triangle were in Bornholm, Stonehenge and a place near Bologna, Italy. The points of the second triangle were the point in Bologna, Damanhur, Italy and a point in Austria. The force idea emitted during the meditation was “The complete annihilation of all evil forces through divine omnipotence and the triumph of love and spirituality on Planet Earth”. It is now the 6th consecutive year that we have done this meditation and every year the experience becomes more and more profound and intense.
The midsummer retreat first began back in 2008 upon the initiative of some of the teachers of Natha Yogacenter, Emil and Jane Noll, who bought and renovated a beachfront property with the purpose of keeping retreats and spiritual events. Since then the retreat has grown every year as has the supportive field for this event which this year I felt was at a peak. Also this year the retreat centre was looking better than ever and the weather was by far the best we have experienced. Bornholm is known as being a magical island but this year there was something extra magic in the air..something intangible yet so perceivable and profoundly present.