Breathe, Smile Now Meditation Retreat

I've mentioned in my Sexy Nomad blog that the month of September is a magical month for me because of a series of events which are perfectly unfolding according to my needs and wants. Just to summarize, I've been wanting a new kind of lifestyle, an upgrade from the current one I have been enjoying since I retired from government service in Dec. 2007. By upgrade, I do not mean material things, prestige, or wealth per se (though these things will naturally happen should I stay true to my chosen path). I just want a change of routine, greater responsibilities and bigger venue for learning and growth. I want to be the best Jen Adams I can be and use my potential to the fullest. Hence, my September has been a very busy one and it still is.  And with everything I am doing, I am very much in need of respite for the month of October so I can recharge and better prepare myself for bigger things to come.

So on October 16-19, God-willing, I am attending the Breathe Smile Now 4-day Mindfulness Retreat. I remember in 2012, when I attended the two-week Meditation Retreat and International Youth Seminar in Taiwan, I came back much more rejuvenated and ready to accept more blessings which was why I have been traveling non-stop for two years. I asked the universe for more travel opportunities and through the help of the meditation retreat I attended, I became more calm and centered and aligned with the universe that I became an automatic recipient of the things I wanted. This is because meditation can help a person become attuned to his/her subconscious which is where inspired ideas come from and from there, dreams can start materializing.

This 4-day mindfulness retreat will happen on October 16-19, 2014. Venue is in Mariapolis Center in Tagaytay. Weekend-only participation also possible. For more details and to register go to http://bit.ly/1oaP151

For more information about the retreat like the schedule, who will be conducting and other benefits you will get, please head to this link:
http://plumvillageasia.org/index.php/list-of-events/icalrepeat.detail/2014/10/16/100/-/philippines-breathe-smile-now-a-4-day-retreat

If you are a busy person like me, or someone who just wants to relax or someone in need of  inner peace once again it's about time that we experience and enjoy mindfulness, meditation, and our collective loving and nurturing energy.

This is our appointment with life: "Breathe, Smile, Now" :)

Stillness in My Heart Speaks

It's the middle of the year and I am happy to say that at last, I found peace. Or maybe it's not entirely peace, but having gone through what I had for more than a year now, the emotional roller coaster, the  thoughts of suicide, wanting to end my marriage and all those other negative emotions that ate me up day in and day out no matter how blessed other people see me, it can take its toll on one's heart, mind and soul. And today, my 3rd day of feeling neutral, I realized how much I missed this. I missed the feeling of quiet and peace in my heart. My left brain is arguing that perhaps it's just my hormones finally coming to rest. But my right brain is reveling in it.

CALMNESS - A Paragram by Paramahansa Yogananda

My world seemed kind of "noisy" recently... or at best, it's not as peaceful as I willed it to be in the past. A family member has been staying with us for more or less two weeks now and though a big part of me is happy to be with this person again, her being strong-willed, opinionated and feisty are somewhat draining the lights out of me. Her life decisions made me question my own; her material wealth (like those branded bags she has) made me discontent; basically her presence made mine feel obsolete (like the way I dress myself although I know what she meant). I felt like I want what she has... it made me think for a while that her life was better than mine. I am normally not like this. I easily get happy for other people's blessings and happiness and I normally don't compare myself or my home life to others because truth be told, I am weird and there are not a lot of people who understand my chosen lifestyle. I've already come to accept that. But when my life and my decisions get questioned or challenged, especially by someone I hold dear, little doubts here and there get planted and before I know it, I am a one big ball of mess.

But before I even get to that messy part, I am once again seeking peace from all this noise in my head and around me. I turn to my Para-Grams. And so I drew the card that talks about being calm:

Knowing that you are a child of God, make up your mind to be calm no matter what happens. If your mind is fully identified with your activities, you cannot be conscious of the Lord. But if you are calm and receptive to him within while being active without, you are rightly active. Each time a swarm of worries invades your mind, refuse to be affected; wait calmly while seeking the remedy. Spray the worries with the powerful chemical of your peace. You cannot buy peace; you must know how to manufacture it within, in the stillness of your daily practices in meditation. When you think that you have reached the utmost depth of silence and calmness, go deeper still. In the silence you will receive from God the answers to your life's problems.

I like that part where it says I must manufacture my peace within. That particular day when I felt so troubled, as if I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and everything I did just ended in failure, I stopped, closed my eyes and meditated. I quieted my mind and my heart. It was difficult especially with all the self-doubts swimming in my head and in my heart. It took a long while too and realized that I missed it.

With the busyness of my life, I wasn't able to meditate as frequently and as regularly as I did in the past. No wonder I was easily swayed, my emotions were easily stirred and it seemed like I couldn't find my inner voice. I now refuse to be affected by this noise and I promise to continue to live by my own rules of happiness. It's how God made me and I do believe that I should honor that, and not be someone else that I am not.