So, Thursday 5/11 we were off, by car, Mishka & I – to Leuven in Belgium, to THE monastery there, ‘THE’ monastery because apart from one longer break (or two?) I’ve been going there for seminars for more than 20 years, must be…
It’s a huge (cold) noisy place, but the group room is beautiful – large, with windows out on some nature all down one side, PLUS, a wonderful lounge just for us (in this very busy place) where more or less everybody gathers in the evenings to exchange, have a drink of this or that – always very buzzy and intimate – perfect really.
Usually I have my table there, with a spare chair, and people can come through the evening and connect with me – questions, renewing closeness, simple chats and exchanges, but this time I only managed this on Saturday evening, what with my pain troubles which did not much relent…
It was a pretty full gathering – 65 people including 15 ‘Newies’ .
Of course I was limited in the way I could work and share ‘those energies’ so I had to find new ways to do so, which I did. So the seminar was for sure bountiful, and out of it came eleven new and very enthusiastic (and beautiful) Wild Geese. Most of the participants were from Belgium, but as always others from Holland & Germany, but also from Denmark, Switzerland…
Always there in Belgium, throughout my many years working with them, there is every time so much openness.
I was conveyed in a wheelchair by Sadhan from the room where I stayed to the grouproom, and to the little area where I sat down, with Mishka and Sadhan at lunch and dinner to eat the special meals Hawwah cooked for me – very important there where the food in the canteen is notoriously awful, a bit of a laugh, really. The corridors are long and my walking capacities short! –so it was fortunate that a wheelchair was there, belonging to Larinda, who very sadly is in a lot worse state physically than I am, but was smiling almost throughout.
(I just heard from her by email this morning: “It was certainly worth being there! Although I was the whole time in nasty pain, I enjoyed the intense group and the attention I got. And our hug so unforgettable. And our wheelchair exchange such fun…”)
So somehow we managed, and managed well. Once again Mishka being there was vital, again my saviour really, Sadhan was a tower of strength, Pranama did a great job as dealer and organizer, and many others contributed to a really fabulous event.
After the group was over on Sunday, all sweet farewells made, Mishka and I drove north about 200 kms into Holland, got lost in some reconstruction, and finally arrived at a b&b for the night – all so we could see early next (Monday) morning a doctor/osteopath of great repute, who was also a good friend of Pedarado, who was on the seminar – someone whom Pedarado had nagged all weekend to find space to see me then – successfully as it turned out. He, the doc, was a really great guy, very special. He found a way to intensify the pain to a peak – and held it there, so I went into the most powerful and extraordinary catharsis, which was bound to have helped, if on another level, because the pain went on…
So Monday it was a 650 km drive home – and I can, despite the leg trouble, manage to drive and help out Mishka – who is a fast and fantastic driver, but still can enjoy breaks from it too!
This week we were at the doc in Bühl twice, and I have had also two helpful physiotherapy sessions from a fine young guy in Freiburg, more with him next week, PLUS some fresh sessions with new practitioners practicing different techniques, AND another of my favourite Rolfing sessions with this great guy I go to from time to time locally.
The doc in Bühl, who is our main guy I suppose at the moment, insisted yesterday that I was ‘40% better’.
Sometimes it doesn’t feel like it, at other times, Yes, I guess it is on its way out.
When it is, what a relief it will be. But also what a lesson it has been.
What has come out of it? Well, many things, but especially this:
TO SAY YES IS LOVE
Later today we, Mishka and I, are off to Wilderswil for my regular Swiss seminar there, the usual 20 or so participants, most of them regular guys, but also five Newies. Hopefully we can somehow find a way to pass on what I’m here to pass on, and that my body allows it, and the ‘righting’ of my body to a proper balance continues.
Heigh-Ho then, off we go!
LOVE! Michael
