Health and Happiness Retreat

 I have been doing workshops and retreats with various permutations and combinations of Pranayama, Wellbeing, Inner Healing, Stress Management, Emotional Freedom, Happiness etc in a quest to find an integral approach to wellness. I think that this retreat finally blended the various elements of Integral Wellness into a three day retreat.
The major shift with respect to the earlier retreats is to pull in happiness; inspired by the saying of the Mother “As yet, happiness and good health are not normal conditions in this world. We must protect them very carefully against the intrusion of their opposites.” The results of modern research substantiate what the Mother said a long time ago - happier people are healthier, more successful and more empathic. Seen from the perspective of health and happiness, stress of all forms occludes our natural state of wellbeing. Modern research also shows that all forms of dis-ease is the result of stress. Thus, health and happiness give rise to a unifying, integral framework for wellbeing.
 For a first retreat with this new perspective, I am quite pleased with the results. I liked the participating group immensely. Like all groups in Auroville, the group was heterogeneous in composition with respect to cultures and age. I am also happy and grateful for the probing questions, very interesting discussions and sharing form which I learned a lot and gained many insights. It is a pleasure and privilege to have facilitated this retreat.
It appears to me that my search for the ideal proportions is over and I found it – finally. No doubt, I have a lot of fine-tuning to do but I am certain that this is what I will offer form now onwards. I am considering various ways offering this retreat and how some parts can be offered as stand-alone workshops.
I feel very happy and grateful for the opportunity of exploring and finding the integral framework in “Health and Happiness”. I am sure that fine-tuning this retreat and offering it in various forms  is a very meaningful and pleasurable pathway for my own personal growth.
Syamala was once again an enthusiastic participant in this retreat and I derived a lot of encouragement from her presence. I am fortunate to have her feedback and reassuring and encouraging presence in so many events.