Meditation retreat at Lake Baikal

Recently, I went to Siberia's Lake Baikal for a meditation retreat, and it was such a journey! Insights, realisations and coming back to the body, body, body.... I realised there that the more we are in the body, the more aware we are, the more alive we are, the more we can see the beauty around us. There is no life except from life in our body. When we are in the body, we feel the beauty with our whole being, every cell of our existence. Being present IS to be in the body! So even though I already was more or less embodied  quite a lot of the time, this journey made me realise the importance even more. But here I wanted to share my magical journey with YOU with photos, commentaries and insights...

On the way to lake Baikal my plane arrived at 4am and my baggage was lost, as I found out. Baggage with warm clothes, boots and all other necessities for living for 1 week in a tent on the shore of this magical lake... I got worried, anxious, angry. But then I put my ear plugs in, inflated my neck cushion and lied down on the metal chairs in the airport. I started feeling my anxiety and my worry in my body, living through it's intensity and discomfort. I was lying there until this intensity dissolved and I started feeling waves of energy and subtle vibrations all over my body.

Suddenly the anxiety and worry was gone. And I felt like laughing. I realised how comical this situation is. And how grateful I am for at least takings socks out from the suitcase in moscow, so I was wearing warm socks and havayanas, ear plugs from noise and a neck cushion, and I felt warm, cosy and comfortable!!!! By luggage arrived with the next plane 7 hours later! How great is that? ))

The top photo is Lake Baikal on Island Ol'chon at 5am each morning. I liveed in a tent and woke up at 4.30, to have my glass of hot water, do some yoga and mediate. And it's amazing to meditate in the open air with this view. We live in a naked part of Baikal, it's called Steppe in Russian and there is lots of space, wind and peacefulness. I was not very happy at first as I am a tree person and I love forests, this naked land was a little bit shocking to me. But then I got used to it and came to see it's tremendous beauty and strength. No wonder it is an island of shamans and warriors, they gain their power from this land and the lake. So I fell in LOVE with it.

This little HEART SHAPED lake on the island Ol'chon is called Nuru Nur and they say it's even older than Baikal. Legends say that Chingiz Khan used to dip in it to get blessed before his voyages, and I simply hope that through swimming in it my heart opened a bit more. There is a possibility as the teacher monk from Thailand was concentrating on the heart a lot. Fingers crossed.

Here I am in that Heart Shaped lake. The water was not that cold actually, even warmer than in Baikal itself. The was a lot of algae at the bottom, which lovingly coated my feet. The legend also says, that whoever swims in this little lake will meet their second half moon after. :) When I came out I had the strongest and most powerful meditation on its bank. Something definitely shifted in my perception, and the whole body was vibrating with joy.

Our retreat was not as strict as usual vipassana retreats are. Majority of participants woke up just before breakfast and morning meditation (which is understandable as it was freezing before sunrise!). But there were a few who woke up almost every morning at 4 or 5 am and did some exercises, meditation and swam in the cold waters of Baikal. Lesha was one of them. I called him my morning routine partner even though we went about our own things in silence. But it was always nice to get up, go to the kitchen to have some hot water and find him meditating like this on most mornings. It made me smile and warmed my heart.

Vipassana meditation retreat is usually associated with silence and slow, mindful movements and actions. But at our retreat in Lake Baikal this summer we didn't really follow these guidelines. Moreover, on the last day we did an amazing dancing session. It was mindful, by the way Right on the shore of Baikal on it sacred land. Katia created a magical playlist, which, together with the energy of the land and lake, created a perfect energy.

Personally, I don't go dancing often. And for me to dance it has to be the right music, the right people, the right vibe. But there I just could not stop. My body was doing all the movements, I was just watching it, sometimes even shocked by its crazy moves, sometimes surprised by their mellowness. Goosebumps invaded my body and were rushing from top to bottom and back. It almost felt like the earth, and music, and people all supported me in this dance. And I gave my all 100% to it.

There are dances like this in London, conscious dance sessions without alcohol, drugs and in the evenings. And I feel something got awakened in me on that day, on that shore. My body showed me how important it is for it to dance.

And of course, meditation retreat without green tea is not a retreat!!! I didn't take all my teapots and tea utensils with me to the meditation retreat in lake Baikal in Siberia, where I was spending 10 days with the amazing company of people and amazing nature. But every morning after morning meditation I sat down and took a lot of cups with hot water, poured it from one cup to another, brewed the tea with me counting the seconds instead of the timer and sending love to the tea and to the person who I was preparing it for. The tea tasteed amazingly well with the local water and the energy of it is intensified in this magical place. Which we needed to stay awake and meditate every single moment of the day. I loveed this place here. Every day I felt I was recharged more and more with the energy of this land and water. Back to the body. Back to my true self.

Running - Week 3. Running in photosБег. Отчет - Неделя 3. Бег с Фотографиями.

Well, cannot say that this week was a huge improvement, although it was definitely easier than week 2.

I didn't have to force myself to run. The only thing is that I cannot wake up in the mornings. For the last two months I was waking up at 5.30, doing my set of morning exercises, ran, and managed to get everything done on time. And last week something was happening to me. The alarm was set on the usual 5.30am, but I woke up at 7, and sometimes at 7.30! And even then I had to force myself to get up, otherwise I could stay in bed longer! And this is considering that I go to bed as early as before. Have no idea why this is happening - may be because it suddenly became very cold, may be because the clock was moved one hour backwards a couple of weeks ago. But the fact remains! I cannot wake up! As a result, I just do a minimum of my morning routine - 5 Suriya Namaskar, 5 Tibetan Rites, 1 or 2 Dao breathing exercises... And Running now happens whenever I can fit it into my day. But I continue to run three times a week.

I also have interesting observations on my food. I excluded all dairy and wheat from my diet. And for the last 3 months I was a complete vegan, but now I really feel like I am craving fish, and even steaks! That brings my memory back to when I was 28. I just started training hard in circus, trapeze - in addition to my usual yoga and lots of cycling. I must say that until that time I have never tried steaks before in my life. To be honest I never liked meat, so I never ate it. Or ate it occasionally. So 3rd month into my circus training, I was sitting at my desk at work, and suddenly caught myself thinking about .... steaks!! The visions of them were so vivid, that I could almost feel their smell and taste. And this is considering that I have never had them before in my life! So on that day I could barely wait until the day was over, I ran on my biggest speed to the nearest supermarket and bought four steaks (I had no idea how to choose them, so I just bought the most expensive ones - organic Argentinian fillet steaks). When I got home, I quickly grilled two of them, thinking that I will eat one now, and take another one to work the next day. But I ate two!!! And I had one the next day. And one more the day after. And one each day of the week for the whole week. And then my craving stopped as suddenly as it started. And I stopped eating meat again. It felt like my body needed something very much, and once that need was satisfied, the impulses in the body stopped too. So I decided to listen to my body more. Of course with sweets and junk food it's different. I really don't believe our body can really crave those things naturally. But with good quality red meat, if I am usually completely indifferent to it, and suddenly once a year I have a strong desire to eat it - such, that I start salivating from only thinking about it, then may be it's a sign that my body needs it.

Back to running, I have read one advise from a blogger, that it's good to run and search for unusual places on your route, and make photos of them. So I decided to try it. And on Sunday I ran and made photos with my phone (didn't have much desire to carry a proper camera during the run). I realized that this activity distracts me from the actual running, which I didn't like. It made me see more beauty around me - that's true, but it didn't feel like I was running somehow. The day was extremely cold, I couldn't get warm even through running, and all these little stops here and there were also contributing to the cold.

So here are the photos of my park, where I usually run. It's called Burgess Park, and government invested into it a few million pounds a couple of years ago - they built amazing childrens playgrounds, some cycling tracks, and beautiful lakes and ponds etc. But somehow I feel that before, even though it wasn't as tidy as it is now, it had some magical energy of a fairytale place. And after its redevelopment it lost it. Yes, now it looks organised, and tidy, with all the nice roads and tracks. But something essential was lost. But here it is.

Here is where my running begins usually:

A bit of the playground:

A tree and a field:

The view from a small hill that i am running on too:

And i could not pass by and not make photo of this crazy person sitting under a tree in a lotus pose and meditating. On his bottom!!!!! on the cold ground!!!!!!! In 5C temperature outside!!!!! I was feeling cold even running, and he was sitting on the ground!!!!! Who is he? Mad? A Saint??? I don't know, but I decided to put his photo here too:

Не могу ничем похвастаться, хотя на этой неделе бегается явно лучше.

Не надо себя заставлять, хотя проснуться совсем не могу с утра - два месяца просыпалась всё время в 5.30 утра, бодро делала весь свой утренний комплекс упражнений, потом бегала, и всё успевала. А на этой неделе творится что-то совсем непонятное. Будильник всё также заведен на 5.30, но просыпаюсь я в 7-7.30, и то еле-еле, могла бы и дольше спать. И всё это учитывая, что спать я ложусь так же рано, как и до этого... То ли холода наступили, то ли подействовало то, что время перевели пару недель назад. Но факт остается фактом - я не могу проснуться!!!! В результате, выполняю программу минимум - 5 кругов Сурья Намаскар, плюс 5 тибетцев, плюс парочку дыхательных упражнений. Ну и бегаю когда получается - с таким поздним подъемом выбирать уже не приходится. Но всё равно, даже с такими отклонениями от распорядка я пробежала на этой неделе 3 раза.

С едой тоже у меня интересно. Я решила исключить на всегда молочные продукты и пшеницу. А вот рыбу опять начала есть пару раз в неделю - тело просит. От одной мысли о рыбе слюнки текут. Что самое интересное, от мысли про стейк тоже. Поэтому не исключаю, что в какой-то момент его съем. Если тело так реагирует на мысли о мясе, к которому я в принципе обычно равнодушна, то я эти реакции игнорировать не буду. Вспоминается история из моей жизни: до 28 лет я ни разу не ела стейки, даже не знала как их готовить, и какие они на вкус, так как к мясу в принципе всегда относилась ровно, даже можно сказать с нелюбовью. И вот я начала усердно заниматься цирком (кроме обычной йоги и велопоездок). Где-то на 3ий месяц занятий я сижу один день на работе, рабочий день близится к концу, и тут я ловлю себя на том, что в голове у меня одни стейки - прямо несколько стейков плавают в воображении, я чувствую их запах, вкус. И это учитывая, что я их никогда не ела!! Я еле дождалась в тот день окончания работы. Ровно в 5 вечера я помчалась в ближайший супермаркет, купила самых дорогих аргентинских стейков - четыре штуки (не имела понятия какие надо выбирать, купила самые дорогие), прибежала домой и просто поджарила на гриле. Думала - съем один, и один завтра на работу возьму. Но съела сразу оба. А на следующий день ещё один. И через день ещё один. Так я питалась всю неделю. А потом это желание ушло. И я просто опять перестала есть мясо. Вот что это было, как не сигналы тела о том, что ему надо? Если сейчас у меня дойдет до таких же видений, то скорее всего послушаю себя. :))

Возвращаясь к теме бега, как и на прошлой неделе, пытаюсь бежать больше, чем говорит мне программка. Что привело к тому, что у меня стало ныть одно колено. Поэтому в последний раз бежала ровно столько, сколько мне говорили. Вообще, у Юры Балабанова, который пишет свои вдохновляющие истории в блоге, прочитала, что когда бегаешь, нужно выискивать интересные места в парке и их фотографировать. Ну как бы быть охотником за прекрасными уголками в парке. Вчера я решила попробовать это и сфотографировала места на своем беговом маршруте, которые и выкладываю здесь. Но поняла, что это занятие отвлекает от бега - я всё время останавливалась, доставала телефон (таскать с собой камеру не было сил), включала на нём камеру и фотографировала. И эти маленькие моменты занимают много времени. А вчера ещё и погода выдалась холодная - я так и не разогрелась от бега. Чуть-чуть согрелась, но даже не вспотела. И эти мини остановки тоже как-то не способствовали согреву!!

Ну вот и фотографии моего местного парка, и моего бегового маршрута. Год назад в него вложили несколько миллионов фунтов и построили и детскую площадку, и какие то мега горки для велосипедов, и дорожки. Чего только не сделали. Но если раньше в нём ощущалась волшебная энергия магического места (хоть немного и неаккуратного), то теперь он стал просто красивым ухоженным парком. Но как истинный охотник за красивыми местами, я постаралась показать его в воскресное утро в 7.30 утра - хорошо, что солнышко было! Оно то и украсило его своими лучами! :)))

С этого места я начинаю пробежку:

И кусочек детской площадки:

Дерево и поле по соседству:

Вид с холмика - одного из нескольких, на которые я вскарабкиваюсь :)

Ну и последняя - пока бежала, увидела человека, сидящего под деревом, в позе лотоса, явно медитирующего. На улице было градусов 5!!! Даже в состоянии движения и бега я не могла согреться! А моя попа так вообще заледенела от одного вида этого безумца!!!! Сидеть! Попой!!! На голой земле!!!!!! После вчерашнего проливного дождя, который шел нескончаемыми потоками весь день!!!!! Сумашедший??? Святой???? Не знаю, но не сфотографировать его я не смогла.