Accepting change and living in the flow of change: a silent retreat on the principle of impermanence Everything is subject to change; nothing remains constant. We can observe this everywhere in nature, as well as in ourselves. However, this change often causes us suffering. Because we want to preserve and hold on to the good times, the pleasant feelings, everything familiar. It is not always easy for us to open ourselves to change. We tend to flee from the ultimate change in our lives, death, until it is imminent. But confronting impermanence, especially our own impermanence, can help us change our perspective on our own lives and live more consciously.
What to expect On the day of arrival, we will begin at 4:30 p.m. After dinner together, we will clarify everything important in the evening so that you can safely sink into silence and completely into yourself. Until the morning of departure, we will envelop ourselves in noble silence and focus entirely on introspection. Looking inward. Listening. After lunch, there will be time for discussion and community. Basically, you can expect a medium-intensity meditation practice that is also well suited for people with little experience: we sit for a maximum of about 25 minutes at a time and about 4-5 times a day, together in silence, sometimes as guided meditation.
The meditation practice is inspired by Buddhist practices and combines mindful awareness, heart qualities, and mental focus. In addition to meditation, we practice yoga—as a gentle physical balance and preparation for sitting. The focus is on passive Yin Yoga, supplemented by calm, mindfully performed Hatha Yoga exercises. The practice is deliberately slow and inward-focused; dynamic or performance-oriented forms of yoga are not part of the guided program. Individual practice outside of group times is welcome.
The program is complemented by various contemplative elements (e.g., short keynote speeches, stories and food for thought, contemplative exercises, journaling, group walks), the specific form of which varies from retreat to retreat and is inspired by the topics I am currently exploring in my own philosophical practice and studies. At the end of each retreat, there is a practice to integrate the experience.
On this retreat, there will also be an opportunity on Saturday to sweat it out in a wood-fired outdoor sauna and, conditions permitting, we will have a campfire. Community, self-sufficiency & helping out An essential part of the retreat is the idea of community. We take care of ourselves as a group. Each person takes on about an hour of helping out per day (chopping, washing up, etc.). I take care of shopping, menu planning, and coordination. The food budget is deliberately generous, and at the end there should be a small surplus left over, which we donate as a group to a joint project. Here's what a former participant says about my retreats:
"The weekend in silence was a highlight of my year and I hope the effects will linger for a long time to come. Despite the usual Christmas stress, I am already approaching many things differently, meditating every day and writing in my journal in the evenings. It was such a wonderful weekend that I would love to experience it again in the future, and how lucky we were with the group! Thank you again for your fantastic introduction to silence, Yin Yoga, and so much more." ---- Marisca M. Your course instructor: Ever since I first became fascinated by the strange phenomenon of consciousness around 30 years ago, I have been interested in philosophy, psychology, meditation, yoga, and all such things. It is the search for truth and for answers to the ultimate questions of human existence that has always driven me: I want to explore and understand consciousness, life, and being human in its depth.
Since 2020, I have been creating spaces for experience with great joy and dedication, spaces that are inspired by this search and in which people can move from doing to being, find peace, encounter and question themselves, and thus sharpen, increase, shape, and expand their consciousness in order to ultimately lead a more joyful and peaceful life. In this way, I hope to contribute to a more peaceful, conciliatory, and humane world.