As part of our festival 2025; a lovely morning of poetry, mindfulness, mandala art and yoga therapy was experienced by all as we delved into harvesting our inner wisdom to sustain us during the quiet months of winter.
Session 1 with Fay Adams – Poetry and Mindfulness
Fay started her session with the invitation to pause and to settle in the space with a guided mindfulness moment. She invited us to listen to a poem by Rumi; to allow it to drop into awareness and to meet it body, heart and mind. The suggestion was to let ourselves receive the poem and to notice what it sparks within us.
One of these days at dawn You will rise
from within like a Sun.
~ Rumi
With Fay’s gentle guidance we explored the world of poetry through the lens of mindfulness. We were encouraged to receive the poetry mindfully and to let the poem sink in; to let it change us and to accept the gifts the poems offer. Fay explained how mindfulness creates a clearing; it enables a space like a bowl where the poems can be dropped in to. If we imagine that the bowl is filled with water and when we drop the poem into the bowl; it creates ripples and we can experience those ripples. They might be experienced as: thoughts, sensations in the body, feelings, impulses or insights. Or they may be experienced as a sudden arising of a feeling of movement. All kinds of things can happen as we allow ourselves to be present in our wholeness when we are receiving the words of a poem.
One of the things that can happen – is that the universal wisdom often expressed in poetry can be very deeply recognised by ourselves – in our inner being. The poem can have a profound effect on us as we receive it wholly through the body and not just through the head. Fay says that “our inner wisdom recognises the universal wisdom”, they meet together and we can receive the wonderful gift of experiencing our own inner wisdom. To witness it arising; as we often we do not know where it is. We can ask ourselves “what am I harvesting?”. We can just be here in the moment as we experience our inner wisdom rise up with the poem. It drops ink into water and colours your inner experience and slowly spreads out, arriving into your wholeness. Fay’s beautiful rendition of the poems held in the space of mindfulness was really nourishing and encouraged us to trust in our deep inner wisdom as we traverse this quiet period of the year.
Unable to find a door to escape
I close my eyes and find
I am the door.
~Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Session 2 with Kathryn Burrington – Mandala Art.
Kathryn Burrington led us through a wonderful workshop on creating Mandala art. She guided us through the process of creating a beautiful mandala; patiently showing us step by step the intricate patterning made by slowly adding petals of various sizes and shapes. The end result was both beautiful and inspiring as well as being thoroughly enjoyable.
Her emphasize on the meditative, relaxing, and therapeutic qualities of creating mandalas enabled participants to be in the moment and to let go of any sense of getting it right. This rooting in its ability to aid meditation and relaxation stems from the fact that – mandalas are symmetrical, circular, geometric patterns that serve as a marvellous aid to meditation and relaxation; because the process of creating them is a deeply mindful activity. It encourages participants to slow down and focus on the design; enabling them to withdraw their attention away from conditioned mind and into the present moment experience. The result being that we can enjoy a creative experience benefiting our mental health and general well-being.
Session 3: A Brief Dip into the World of Yoga Therapy with Vicky Glanville Watson.
Vicky Glanville Watson’s passion and love for yoga therapy shone through brightly; in her very informative and interesting session on this wonderful healing modality. Vicky shared that it is very important that the client feels involved in the whole process and that each session is very much a building up of trust between the therapist and the client. She emphasised how it is very much a personalized, evidence-informed, and person-centred approach to enhancing well-being.
Yoga therapy uses the tools of yoga to address chronic health issues, manage stress, and restore emotional balance. The central rationale behind this therapy is to empower individuals toward greater awareness and healing by working collaboratively with medical teams and other associated health professionals. Its aim being to support patients’ long-term well-being using tailored practices: integrating gentle targeted movement, breathwork, meditation, and relaxation. The goal is to help patients build a personal “toolkit” of valuable skills for lasting wellness, improving self-care, and managing conditions like chronic pain, anxiety, and fatigue.
Vicky then treated us to an extremely nourishing Yoga Nidra which was profoundly calming and relaxing; enabling us to end the festival feeling rested and cared for. A truly healing experience.