Winterbreak Songwriters Retreat

It's been a week since our return from the Retreat, but it's never too late to expound about the virtues of gathering like hearts & souls for a common purpose. Such an occassion was the Winterbreak Songwriters Retreat, where 24 brave folks attended from all over Southeast Queensland. I had three different roles while being up in the Gold Coast Hinterland: a.) as Meditation instructor and Workshop leader, b.) as organizational helper to Steve Seaton (www.looseacoustic.com.au) and c.) singing student.

First on the professional front a word about the morning Meditation sits and the "Tuning into Your Muse" workshop. Each day began at 7 a.m. where a group of at least 10 participants joined in the Guided Meditations that I conducted. I taught firstly about the Optimal 7 Point Meditation Posture and then moved into Breathing Meditation. Both mornings I discussed the value of meditation, how we need to focus the mind, connect the mind and the body and learn to able to calm the mind to help us in our everday lives.

The second morning I added a second traditional meditation on Compassion called Tong Lin, or Giving and Taking. This latter meditation a number of practitioners truly enjoyed.

As for the "Tuning into Your Muse" workshop, this was meant to be a "Taster", more like a teaser workshop, for 45 minutes on the final day of the retreat. I led the participants through an Inner Child Meditation to give them the experience of where their muse might dwell, then we did a few other exercises to introduce them to perhaps previously untapped parts of themselves. Much discussion, tears and a few laughs were had as we hurriedly had to cover the sacred ground of where the Muse resides, how to connect and stay connected to it. But much was gained.

In the role as participant of the Weekend, being part of Susanna Carman's (see www.susannacarmen.com) Singing Workshop for the entire day of Saturday was one of the highlights of my creative expression life!

Systemtically she walked us through the anatomy of singing, both using the voice and the rest of our body; she had us do exercises to connect us up with our higher visions of what we'd like to express through our singing (we danced our way through this part!), and lastly she had each of us bravely sing a few lines of a favorite song in front of our peers and then gently but critically assessed our singing. It was this last exercise that I found the most challenging and yet the most liberating.

After I repeated the first few lines of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" a number of times, had my posture and nasal passages adjusted, it was when Susanna crept behind me and held me in a bearhug (from behind) and had me sing a version like this, that I broke down. With tears streaming down my face I continued singing, all the group participants knowing they had witnessed a "break through" for this closet singer, and as I said, I felt liberated in a way I've never felt before!

So going beyond our comfort zones is so very, very important, in acting our ways into new thinking. I have absolutley no aspirtations to become a singer in public, however it was a challenge I personally wanted to overcome. Again and again I repeat it is in the doing of new actions that our brain maps will be jolted into new neuro pathways and neurons firing which will create new ways of thinking in us.

We will never be able to think our way into new Thinking. Only ACT our way into new THINKING. From the new actions we gain confidence and new thoughts arise as to how we see ourselves. From how we see ourselves new thoughts arise as to how we will vision the future. And from there, dreams really do come true!

When was the last time you leaped out of your comfort zone IN PUBLIC? I'd love to know.