I woke up today with excitement and enthusiasm for what was to come for me today as inspiration, play, fun, and laughter. I knew the Spiritual Spa Day at Peace Awareness Labyrinth & Gardens would fill my heart with great joy — and it did. So come with me and I’ll tell you all about it.
I arrived at the Gardens around 9:15 a.m. and it’s always nice to get there early and watch folks as they arrive, especially new visitors who have never experienced the property before. I started by visiting the kitchen, as per usual, to cheer them on as they busily went about preparing one of the most awesome meals in the city. Elaine Kitchell Chef extraordinaire, who brings in a fabulous staff of volunteers to work with her on the Spa Days, is as focused as she is loving, and I know that goes into the food. Yummy Loving food.
I continued to go about greeting participants for today’s event, and loved watching the joy bubble all around even before things get started. Our sound person Richard Price is playing some beautiful Celtic music that is very appealing to me.
Speaking of getting started, here we go! Kevin McMillan, Administrator of the Residents Program, calls us to our seats. As we all quiet down Kevin starts to speak about the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness (MSIA) who is the sponsor for today’s program. Kevin then introduces our facilitator for the day, Dr. Deborah Martinez. Deborah is a beautiful and talented facilitator and provides many people with an opportunity to just let go and have fun no matter the topic she is working with. So I am gratefully looking forward to that.
Deborah takes it from there and moves right into the agenda for the day by giving us a look at what we can expect as we all make our way through this journey of Self exploration and inspiration. She first starts us off with an invocation of Light and explains about “Calling in the Light” for all the newcomers who may not have experienced this before.
Deborah has us take a look at what inspiration is for us, encouraging us to allow ourselves to be inspired in our everyday lives. We listen to the first of many uplifting and profound quotes from John-Roger, the founder of MSIA:
” When you become one with life, the very leaves on the trees are the scripture of nature. The face you look at is the scripture of your own beingness. The aura around you is the scripture of your mind and emotions and, very often, of your own spirituality. The very Soul is seeing the face of God in the physical world.”
– John-Roger (From: Loving Each Day)
Dr. Deb, I like to call her, poses the question: “Who or what inspires you?” Then we go to the sacred book of Webster; dictionary that is. INSPIRATION: Sacred revelation; breathing; divine spark; influence; to give to encourage; ignite; excite………and more. We are also give a definition of Soul. SOUL: The spiritual principle, the animating spirit. We then hear another excerpt from John-Roger:
“The Soul is your truest reality.”
– John-Roger (from: The Way Out Book).
We hear about the positive qualities of Soul. They are: loving, joy, peace, kindness and compassion, here and now. No wonder we get so inspired. That’s good stuff!
Dr. Deb then speaks to us about some great quotes that have been with us through time. The first one is: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” It’s from the 3rd Century BC Greek, and is an 18th Century proverb, also used by Shakespeare in Love’s Labours Lost. The second one is: “The eyes are the windows of the Soul.” This one from a 16th Century proverb, author unknown. After a discussion around these two quotes we hear another excerpt from John-Roger who speaks about the beauty of the Soul. We also hear him speak about the values and simple qualities of the Soul. I have to admit I have experienced the Soul as very simple in its expression. It’s a lot easier to be in that expression than not.
Leading up to an exercise we are about to partake in Dr. Deb asks the question: “What qualities of your Soul are reflected to you by others?” Dr. Deb gives us her example of being inspired when she makes Japanese tea for her and her husband and the joy it brings to both of them. So we all find partners to work with and do a couple of exercises about how we are inspired in our lives, who or what inspires us, the qualities of the Soul which are reflected in that inspiration and how we can have more of those qualities in our lives. It is an uplifting part of the morning in a very special way. More so because I have my fellow eNDH reporter, Penelope Bright, as a partner to enjoy the day with.
Then we move on to a breathing exercise video clip called “Breathe the Divine Spark — A Meditation” with John Morton the Spiritual Director of MSIA. The Meditation put me in a real relaxed and receptive place. I must remember to breath more often. I think that’s an important part of living. You think?
We then look at ways we can be inspired through positive action, one of which is to see our partner through the eyes of the Soul and to allow our Souls to be seen. We are then invited to close our eyes as we listen to an Angel sing. The song that is played is entitled “Seeing”, by Eric Lumiere. The song definitely catches the essence of the day. After the song we do some sharing that touches all of us. What a grace filled morning it has been.
LUNCH time! Yippee!! Yahoo! I reserve a table for Dr. Deb, my fellow reporter Penelope Bright, and myself. We are such an inspiring group that we are joined by six others before we know it. Well, Elaine did it again. Oh my stars! My very favorite salads to start……Italian salad with white vinaigrette, pear, pecan and goat cheese salad with lemon dressing, and of course plain mixed baby greens for those who want that. Moving right along………fresh strawberries with whipped cream, green beans with pine nuts, roasted yams and beets together, egg casserole with dill and goat cheese, chicken apple sausage links, and baked banana French toast. All served with Urth Caff
