What a great title for a Spa Day workshop at Peace Awareness Labyrinth & Gardens. Sitting here now, just reading it, the words do something inside of me that touches my heart and brings me a feeling of calm and relaxation. It is a quiet feeling of inspiration. What happens inside of you?
This is such a nice way to begin reporting about a lovely event. The day began with a warm (July warm!) welcome with MC and Director of Programs Carol Jones. Carol invited everyone to open our hearts and minds to experience whatever Spirit had for each of us personally.
Our facilitator for the day, Mary Ann Somerville, is a long-time facilitator with The Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness (MSIA) and Peace Theological Seminary. It was a gift to experience her warmth, humor, clarity and loving. When we called in the Light together, Mary Ann noted how in MSIA we often refer to the Light as “Living in God’s Holy Thoughts.” That was a beautiful—and inspiring!—way to set the tone for our time together.
Mary Ann shared about how appropriate the workshop is for this time we are experiencing in the world, when challenges can seem both constant and larger than life. How can we turn to Spirit for guidance amidst these times, and experience the inspiration that comes from God?
While inspiration may seem like something that comes from outside of us, like an external force rather than something that is always present and available, Mary Ann invited us to explore how we can open up inside to connect with inspiration in the moment. In our openness, we can begin to notice how we do experience inspiration regularly in our lives (we just might not be recognizing it for what it is!).
One of the greatest keys Mary Ann shared for opening to inspiration is relaxation. The more we can relax and receive, the more our worlds can get bigger by opening to possibilities with God as our partner. In MSIA, we consider God the source of inspiration, and embrace the premise that God is always present. Whether we refer to our spiritual source as God or Spirit or Loving, this is always available to us in our lives.
The morning session included a short and powerful breathing meditation with Dr. John-Roger (The meditation we listened to, “Breathing and Peace with John-Roger,” is available as part of a CD that comes with John-Roger’s book, The Rest of Your Life). Through the simple act of breathing, we are literally in-spiring with God (drawing Spirit into us, like drawing air into our lungs). Mary Ann invited us to look at inspiration as “In-Spirit-ation.” Since “-ation” usually indicates some kind of action, inspiration = being in the Spirit action. All that, right at hand, simply through the willingness to just breathe, and even allow ourselves to be breathed.
Mary Ann also shared how the scientific community is now discovering that the heart has a brain of its own, and that this brain is activated by gratitude and appreciation. This echoes things that John-Roger has shared for many years; how the heart is the center of natural knowing for each person, and we can activate our hearts and this knowing by coming to the Light, breathing, and relaxing with our hearts. Science is catching up with Spirit!
Continuing with a Spirit of discovery and gratitude, the morning session also included a partner exercise, where we could connect with another person and clarify where we wanted to open up to greater inspiration in our lives and identify how we experience inspiration. After hearing some personal sharing from participants following the exercises, it was time for a culinary round of inspiration: Brunch!
Chef Victoria Ross and a cadre of great volunteers served up a brunch to inspire every palate. Fluffy eggs, perfectly browned chicken-apple sausages, delicate baby asparagus spears with slivered almonds, a fruit salad bursting with color… All this and more awaited us, served beautifully on the buffet. A highlight of the brunch was a slice of pumpkin-walnut bread, impossibly moist and freshly-made by guest chef Kelly Sheehan-Funk (people were talking about the bread for the rest of the day!). There was ample Urth Caffe coffee and tea to wash everything down, and people filled the dining room, patios, and courtyard with the tinkling sounds of silverware mixing with laughter and conversation.
Ready for more inspiration? After brunch, we reconvened and prepared to come into Spirit’s action with another powerful tool: the labyrinth. By relaxing, setting an intention toward God, breathing and opening up, we could walk the labyrinth as a sacred journey to bring more inspiration from Spirit into the practical reality of our lives. Mary Ann noted how all of these tools—workshops, meditations, exercises, etc.—are all designed to support the discovery process inside each of us. “MSIA” stands for Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness: the name is the action, the process, and it is ongoing and unique to each person. It is really inspiring to reflect on that. We have so many reasons to be grateful…
The day completed with some more sharing about experiences with the labyrinth and the workshop as a whole. Inspiration. Breathing in. Letting ourselves be breathed. Relaxing. Cooperating with Spirit’s action. Feeling gratitude in our hearts. What a great day.
We have some wonderful upcoming events: Sunday, August 9, join us for the PTS Abundance and Prosperity Workshop followed by a scrumptious good old-fashioned outdoor barbbeque. Workshop is free. Barbeque is $12 and we ask that you RSVP please. Email registrar@peacelabyrinth.org or call 323.737.4055 ext 1137.
The next Spa Day is titled Listening to the Loving scheduled for Saturday, August 29. Inspired composer Steve Chopyak (with a smile like a cherub) will join us as facilitator, and MSIA Spiritual Director, John Morton, DSS, will be on hand to participate (health and schedule permitting). If you feel inspired to attend, please follow that action and come join us! You can register online or by calling 323.737.4055 ext 1137.
Thank you for joining us for this spiritual spa day, and for sharing your loving and Light. Enjoy the slideshow, and all the ways God’s inspiration is present in your life!
