When Shamash told me that about a retreat with Nipun after our two-day conference in London, I did not imagine that we would host it. Our responsibility emerged about two weeks before the day, right as our own work for the conference was taking up every spare moment we had. It didn't seem possible that we could organise a "proper" Awakin Retreat the way we had seen it done, but we trusted that somehow things would work out. A gathering of this nature was always about flow and co-creation anyway (so we told ourselves).



The theme:
The first thing I did was to reach out to those I knew could help us "anchor" the event. Shamash himself did not even know what anchoring was, so we certainly needed help! One of these conversations led me to learn that we were having our event on Earth Day, the largest global environmental event. Bang, we had it - this retreat would need to be about honouring Mother Earth! We were having Satish Kumar as a speaker at our conference so Trishna, the London's Awakin Mother (or our saviour) suggested the theme Soil, Soul, Society, a worldview he often spoke about. And that was how we got to the best theme we could ever ask for, without even having to think about it ourselves!



The preparation:
Our saviour went on two long calls with us to share her experience of organising such an event. We appreciated her kindness from the bottom of our hearts but quickly filtered for what was absolutely essential and let the rest go (Trishna, please forgive us!)

Instead of filling in an extensive preparation template, I hastily jotted down the running order of things. I imagine Trishna had a bit of a shock when she saw it as all the preparation we had for the day (well that and my excel file to coordinate food & service offering). We had food, drinks and people coming. We had Nipun, Trishna and a firm belief in our ability to make things up as we went along. We were ready!

The day:
As an organiser, I was surprised from the very start. Nipun had a reading to offer. Oops, this was probably something we should have prepared!

While I had no idea what would emerge from our group of 30, with my mind fixated on Earth Day, I imagined we would lean into the “Soil” element. However, what struck a chord with everyone was the concept of proximity – how could we expand our boundaries to become closer, to ourselves and others. “Soul” and “Society” were the order of the day!

In retrospect, I wonder if that was partly because of the opening circle’s first speakers. Kush shared his perspective on the irony of how the popular measure of growth, GDP, would increase with one’s many acts of crimes and destruction but would not move with one’s inner work such as meditation. Vicky then offered her personal experience in finding joy from within rather than externally validated measures.



After the circle, we invited three people to speak on the pillars of the Soil, Soul, Society trinity. Deepa shared a number of innovative environmental initiatives (Green Gym, Guerrilla Gardening, SolarCoin) but not before telling us about a moving talk she had heard at the Skoll World Forum. The theme there had been “proximity” and the moment she dropped the word, one could sense it was our retreat’s theme too. To Joshua, “soul” was about inviting vulnerability to connect and love with courage. To Harsha, the thought of “the excluded” was never far – honouring “society” was about designing for inclusiveness.



It was time for lunch. Shamash had written on the board “The schedule is emergent, just like the Earth”, but I had my excel file of running order and we were alarmingly behind! We had to switch from going with the flow to cutting off the flow, I decided. Not without difficulty though. The gong, which had silenced 70 people each day at our conference could not bring this crowd of 30 to stop their conversations!

For the afternoon, we organised everyone into three groups to engage in small activities that would immediately bring the theme to life.

One group went into the street to pick up rubbish. Someone shared that they were invisible to others for a while, which made her think of how sweepers and rubbish collectors must have felt all the time. It was an uncomfortable realisation. Another two were told off by a man who thought that collecting rubbish was strictly the job of the local authority!

Another group gave London streets a kindness “attack” with positive messages and hugs. To engage with strangers this way was the first for many, and what a fresh perspective it brought! Everyone was pumping with happy energy by the end. Never underestimate the power of smiles!





To honour “soul” which is about looking after the inner landscape, I led a small group on a walking meditation. It was eye-opening to see how different the same surrounding could be when I slowed down and truly engaged with every step. A member of my group said he had thought this was the easiest activity to choose from, only to find the awkwardness of being so slow and focussed in the liveliest part of town excruciating!

We ended the day with small circles of sharing on a question seeded by Nipun around cultivating awareness and expanding personal boundaries. I had Nipun in my group so we were task-focussed, quickly thinking of practical ways to take our insights into daily life and offering ideas to help each other’s journey. The moment I turned around, Shamash’s group had started a massage chain! One practical and immediate way of giving each other’s support I suppose!

After the closing circle, as advised by Trishna, we were to offer a spiritual song. This was the one thing Shamash had been waiting for since we finished our last preparation call. He had forgotten to prepare music for the breaks – we meditated on the sound of silence instead – but he was not going to let the retreat end without this song. Everyone could not understand why I giggled until “Heal the World” came on. And I think Nipun would probably never let me run a retreat again after I stepped right into the middle of the circle for a few impromptu dance moves!



The follow-up:
If we had looked through Trishna’s excel template we would have known that we needed to take detailed notes for the follow-up communication. Shamash was too mindful to consider taking notes and I was so efficient in my clean-up that I accidentally threw away the piece of paper I had written a few points on. As such this post has been compiled entirely from my sketchy memory. Thanks to Nipun and Trishna there are photos and links so I can assure you that I have not made it all up!