The Sun Centre (TSC) Newsletter : July 2002.

Namaste. In this month's newsletter:

• Visit our new Extranet (area for 'extra stuff') at The Sun Centre website
• NEW: Open Retreats
• Retreat Programs 2002
• Learning How to Stop - a short article by Frances Yates.

We have started to develop an Extranet area at the TSC website providing information, resources etc. for people interested in the same sorts of things as us. Currently, Alex is developing an Ayurveda & Yoga area. There are recipes, fact sheets, links and a selection of books that can be ordered online. This area will be particularly useful for people who have visited us and who want to know more about the principles behind the delicious food we serve, and the calm, creative atmosphere in which it is made and eaten.

Qi Gong & Massage - with Nochenka Welsh
10 - 17 July

Awaken your vital energy with Qi Gong and the '3 M's': Movement, Meditation and Massage. Every morning, a gentle Qi Gong session outdoors, including freestyle movement and guided meditations, will lead you to a state of heightened energy consciousness and total presence. From this point, you will start exchanging your 'Qi' through simple massages: feet & hands, face & head, arms & legs, back and tummy, for a completely regenerative and healing experience. This retreat is ideal for beginners or those who have already embarked on a journey exploring energy consciousness.
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A flavour of Yoga & Ayurveda - with Alex Duncan & Frances Yates
7 - 14 August & 14 - 21 August

Experience Alex's gentle blend of Yoga & Ayurveda in a small group of like-minded people. Learn how to weave these ancient disciplines into everyday life during this week-long retreat. The program involves a daily guided yoga practice, a series of talks on practical Ayurveda, and group activities of cooking (using Ayurvedic principles), gardening etc, plus plenty of free time to relax in the gardens & grounds, go for walks and picnics, or swim in the river. There will also be regular evening gatherings to share chanting, drumming, star gazing, discussions etc.

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Love Yourself, Achieve your Dreams - with Sharon Black
28 August - 4 Sept

Based on the teachings of Louise Hay, this course will teach you how to identify the obstacles holding you back from turning your dreams into reality. You will also learn and practise a variety of techniques to help you overcome these blocks, thereby releasing you from their hold and setting you free to achieve whatever you want in life! Afternoons and evenings are free time to relax, sunbathe, enjoy the natural beauty of our environment, walk, swim, or take part in group activities.
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Panchakarma - with Martine Levha
14 - 28 August

Against the background of the many crises faced by today's society - in the hectic race for economic profit - we suffer from poor breathing, poor sleeping, overeating and eating the wrong foods. As a result, we digest foods inefficiently and have lost contact with the Self. Who is the 'I' who speaks, and what has become of its Temple (body)? We are all born with our own personality, temperament, and range of potential imbalances. To anticipate these imbalances, to overcome the problems that occur when our inner nature becomes either excessive (nervous problems: depression, insomnia, memory loss etc; repetitive infections or inflammations; congestion, cysts) or deficient (loss of strength, weight loss, tissue deficiency), and to sever at its root the processes that could go on to become long-term illness... this is what an Ayurvedic cure (Panchakarma) proposes to do.
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Yoga in Prades - with Fiona Morton
4 - 11 Sept

This residential week offers you a chance to focus on yoga and enjoy healthy eating while surrounded by nature and the warmth of France's sunniest region. Two sessions of yoga each day, plenty of time to relax, join in the running of the centre, share life with others or for peaceful reflection in the silence of the countryside. No deadlines, musts or enforced hugs!
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Mantra & Mysticism - with Muz Murray (Ramana Baba)
25 Sept - 2 Oct

An opportunity to spend time with mystic master Muz Murray (Ramana Baba) for a relaxing week of Mantra and Mysticism at the Sun Centre.
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The Sun Centre is open almost year-round for those wishing to spend flexible time here, be it a weekend, a week, or longer. Whether you want a solitary retreat, or a family/group experience, we will be here to support you.

Cost - €50 (£32) per day. Price includes accommodation (twin or single room, depending on availability [camping optional for reduced rate]) plus 3 full meals per day, all prepared with Ayurvedic principles in mind. Additional activities (see below) will be charged separately.

During your stay, you will be able to make use of the various workspaces and gardens & grounds - ideal for reading, studying, playing music, yoga, meditation etc.

Yoga & Ayurveda

Daily yoga classes, mantra chanting sessions, meditation, guided relaxation and Ayurvedic nutrition consultations available. Also available: massage, reflexology, Qi-gong classes and various other treatments & activities.

Fun activities

Regular 'extra-curricular' activities like swimming / picnics by the river, music-making sessions, story telling, group sharing, art & craft days, trips to local markets, pony-club outings, etc are a regular part of our life here. You are welcome to join in.

The Sun Centre is a vision in progress that we have been nurturing since summer 1998, when we decided to follow our hearts and develop a small retreat to offer people the chance to learn and practise holistic self-development surrounded by nature. Our interest and integration of various holistic traditions and methods into our family life, is the basis of the experience we share with our visitors.
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Every 3 months or so, we plan to send out a short newsletter (by email) explaining what's new at The Sun Centre. There will also be some content covering current issues in the field of Mind Body Spirit. If you would like to receive these newsletters, please send a blank email to: join@thesuncentre.net

Feel free to pass this email on to anyone who you think might be interested.

A yoga student who arrived at her first class for beginners, when asked why she was there, replied that she'd come to learn to stop! This amused me because it is precisely what yoga is about. My own wish is usually to relax and deal with stress or to become more flexible to combat creeping stiffness.

It is the act of stopping completely that is so hard to achieve, because when we stop moving physically there are the thousand and one chattering monkeys that are still going on inside our heads. Or a record that won't switch off and goes on playing over and over again. This mental unrest is the cause of our suffering and affects the condition of our whole physical body.

When we begin to practice yoga, we learn to move the joints to release any blocked energy …… we learn to stretch our spine to its full capacity to clear a pathway for our energy to move freely up and down the length of our back….. we learn to become 'present' in our whole body.

This simple practice, which many people find so much easier to do in a group initially, begins to take effect after about two weeks. A subtle change in body awareness and a growing sense of 'self' begin to emerge.

In order for the body to become still, the thoughts have to be restrained and
focused. This is done by holding the mind on the breathing process, counting, or reciting a prayer or mantra in the head. These are just 'tools' we can develop, which can act like a spring-board from which to jump into stillness, the point of pure awareness and presence in the moment.

It is in this place that our own individual lightness and stillness arises. Whenever one stops and drops, it is down to this place of stillness …past all
our personal trauma and history, past all our dreams for the future ….into
the present moment. Every time you make the effort to visit this place and spend time there, you are developing your inner stillness. It is an illusion that stillness comes in from the outside. It doesn't. It is something that is nurtured and grown from the inside.

It expands from within.

It is the nature of the mind to be busy. What we have to realise is that this
busy-ness has to be carefully monitored. The mind is like an unruly child. It
gets into all kinds of mischief, causing no end of suffering to us all. It has
to be gently guided and tamed. This is done by the regular practice of watching our thoughts and focusing the mind.

So the practice of stilling the mind is not just an exercise. It becomes a sacred practice which takes you within on a journey to the core of your being. A place where love and peace are found. It is from this place that our
stillness and inner light grows.

Learning to stop is the first step. The secret key we have to turn. The
switch we have to press. Why do we think we do not have enough time in our day to stop?

A simple technique you can try at home is to lie down for ten minutes and
practise not moving a muscle. In the beginning this is difficult. But it is achievable and it can precipitate enormous change in your life. It will create space for you to alter the pace of your day.

Try it and see for yourself!

These yoga techniques are thousands of years old and they work.

Frances runs regular yoga classes in Grampian, Scotland. She also gives treatments in craniosacral therapy and massage. She will be working with Alex (her son) this summer at The Sun Centre during the "A Flavour of Yoga & Ayurveda" retreats. Read more about Frances at her own website: http://members.aol.com/francesryo