“My name is Sarah. I’m originally from Northern Ireland, but I now live just outside Paris in France.
How did I originally start meditating?
I’m quite a newbie to meditating. In fact, I’ve done the most meditating here on this retreat. So I’m learning lots about it. But the idea of meditation came to me just recently this year, I’ve been on a long personal spiritual journey and I became aware that I was just living my life rushing from one thing to another and doing things in my life because I should do them. Because of this condition, it was all around us. So for me, in the last year I wanted to slow down, take my time and try and go inside. So that’s what’s brought me here and how I found out about meditation.
How do you think Bonnevaux becomes a space where contemplative prayer and contemplative life meet?
They are really open, kind. And for me, I can just feel a sense of love here. So it’s a very peaceful, calm, loving, open environment.
What are you particularly enjoying about the Bonnevaux daily rhythm of life?
Again, as I said, I grew up with quite rigid spiritual ideas, grew up in quite a rigid belief system and I’ve been trying to unlearn that. So coming here has been like a breath of fresh air for me because I’ve met these people who they feel the same. There’s other people like me out there. So I’ve loved that. I mean, it’s so many different people of different nationalities to come and do the retreat. I’m sure we’re all here for different reasons.
What does it mean for you to meditate with a community?
I guess for me it’s this reassurance. It’s very hard to put it into words. It’s just reassuring. We’re all in this room together and we’re all meditating, doing the same thing at the same time. It’s reassurance for me.
I think I’ve learned lots of things.
unclinging, to let it be.
And I’ve been trying to do that.
Today, Cynthia touched on she started to touch on, the Three Centered Awareness where we’ve got three centers our intellectual or emotional and movement and it clicked into place. I’ve been doing everything with my head, I’m an intellectual person and as Cynthia had said that’s because of her education, we’re brought up to use our brains and to trust our brains. So, for me that’s been a really big thing that I have to still have that element. And I’ve been trying to reduce that intellectual side, trying to bypass my conscious going into my subconscious. But for me, it’s some bringing in movement, the emotional side, but also the meditation. So before meditation wasn’t such a regular thing for me, I would only do it when I kind of felt that things were starting to get away with me. Now, I know that’s an essential thing to have as my daily practice And just today, we’re learning about meditating on scripture as well. So lots of things to take away.”
If you’re interested in watching the recordings from the retreat by Cynthia Bourgeault, Seeing with the Eye of the Heart, you can find it on the WCCM video platform, WCCM+ here.
