Dear friends,
We welcome you to what is the eleventh edition of our little newsletter.
This time round we’re really keen to highlight the April retreat seen from the perspective of some of the participants. We had conversations with three women – Tanaka, Michelle and Lou – each with different backgrounds and stories. What they had to say about the retreat is as interesting for us as we hope it will be for you.
The retreat was, you may recall, built around an interweaving of meditation, movement and inquiry. Although each of the women are very different, all commented on how they felt very welcomed to be there, they felt a lot of space to be themselves and valued all the practices they engaged in.
Naturally, responses such as this are hugely encouraging to us. To organise something quite like this was a first for us. This kind of feedback represents a powerful and valuable endorsement of our intention to bring people together to experience depth, engagement, inquiry and meaning.
We were especially interested in offering this retreat to people who had little or no experience of being on retreat. The voices of Tanaka, Michelle and Lou are, without a doubt, a testimony to this approach.
Before ending, we’d just like to highlight a couple of items we’re offering, inspired by the retreat. One is a planned walk this coming Saturday 18th. The second is a monthly online meditation beginning Sunday 2nd August. Everyone is invited and for full details, see below.
Finally, if you have any questions about the retreat or you took part and would like to add your voice to those we’ve included here, please write to us at [email protected].
Very best wishes,
Caprice Jackson
(Newsletter Editor for Emergence Foundation)
People Were So Open!
Tanaka Makoni
It was through her work at Sister Systems, a former grantee of ours, that Tanaka Makoni learnt about the retreat. Initially, there were others from the organisation who planned to come. When it transpired she would be the only one, this made her, naturally enough, rather nervous.
On arrival, that didn’t last long. Being alone, she said, necessitated her to engage with people she’d never met before. Quickly, she found, “People were so open!”
Tanaka really valued what she described as “the space to inquire” which the retreat offered. She loved the way the various strands – meditation, movement and inquiry – were interconnected.
In particular, she appreciated the meditation for the freedom it brought from distractions. Even though it was sometimes uncomfortable, going through this she saw as helping her become more grounded.
Equally, she learnt a lot from the movement work. She described how it made her aware of her own difficulties with personal space and, seeing this, enabled her to trust others more.
In summing up, Tanaka was full of praise for the retreat. “It opened the door for me to reconnect with myself,” she said. She went on to say she would welcome the chance to do more, like another long weekend or even single days.
Renewal!
Lou Lancaster
Lou with her son and daughter
After a lifetime in secondary education and environmental activism, Lou Lancaster now works for a Cambridgeshire not-for-profit engaged in retrofitting insulation for housing stock.
Having spent considerable time in prison for her climate advocacy and activism, Lou told us that, prior to the retreat, her stress levels were very high. There was, she said, “lots of turmoil… in my personal life.” On arriving at Charney Manor, where we held the retreat, she was immediately struck by how open and welcoming people were. She also appreciated the cultural diversity of those taking part.
Lou emphasised two things that the retreat had helped awaken in her. One was, as she put it, “I reconnected with myself and my purpose.” The long weekend left her, she said, “more grounded and settled…. It helped me renew confidence that I could continue my path.”
The second was a recognition that change in society – the passion which has guided much of her life – often needs time. Just as she needed the time of the retreat to rediscover herself, so, too, she saw, that the world can require space and time for real change to happen.
An Invitation to Peace
Michelle Gideon
Michelle Gideon is someone who benefited from the work of Coaching for Women, another organisation we had formerly funded. Founded and led by our own Alison Manning, it has for the last seven years provided help and support to women London-wide to realise their potential.
Michelle is not the kind of person who pretends her life has always been easy. At a low ebb late last year, Michelle was struck by what she read about the coaching and, together with a close friend, enrolled in an 8-week course.
The course proved to be transformative and when, subsequently, Alison invited the two women to join the retreat, they both were very open to the idea. Although for Michelle it was a step into the unknown, her trust in Alison was a key factor.
Describing herself as someone who gets excited easily and then anxious as the time approaches, she travelled out to Oxfordshire to the retreat with her good friend, Cat Williams. Anxiety was not something that stayed with Michelle for long, though. On arriving, she found, as she put it, “Everyone was so warm and friendly!”
From this beginning, Michelle went on to experience the retreat as a place to flourish. “It gave me,” she told us, “space to let go of personal anxieties and self-doubt.” It was not that it was all plain sailing. The movement work led by Kirstie Simmons gave rise to a level of discomfort but she also experienced the importance of not stopping. She spoke of the sense of resilience this brought as well as a greater openness to question.
Previous to the retreat Michelle had established a group for Queer women of colour. Before the retreat she had been struggling, feeling the difficulties of the group as a weight on her own shoulders. Since the retreat, she says, she’s been willing to reach out when needed. The whole experience of leading the group has become much lighter.
Michelle was fulsome in her praise for the retreat. Clearly, along with greater strength, has come with greater vulnerability. It was, in her words, “An invitation to peace.”
Upcoming EF events
Walking Alone – Together (Saturday, July 18)
On Saturday July 18, Emergence Foundation will be leading a walk ‘Alone – Together’. This follows the theme of the April retreat led by the team at Emergence Foundation. We welcome anyone to join us for the day.
We will be taking a beautiful route from just outside London, through an ancient, forested path to Amaravati Buddhist monastery (you don’t have to be Buddhist to come!). On Saturdays the monastery is open to the public to visit, meditate, browse their extensive library, or just spend time in the beautiful grounds.
We will meet at 9.00am at Euston station or at 10.00am at Berkhamsted station where the walk begins. The day will last until about 4.00 in the afternoon. The walk will be at a leisurely pace. The path is of moderate exertion, about 1.5 – 2 hours, with stops along the way!
During Emergence Foundation’s spring retreat this past April, we explored the theme of being ‘alone-together’. We will continue this in various ways during this day. There will be time for meditation and/or just being together.
If you’d like to take part, we’ve set up a WhatsApp group. Through this we can share further details and information. Use this link to join the group.
We hope to see you! It promises to be a day of joy, depth and continuing inquiry together.
Meditating Alone – Together
Starting Sunday August 2, there will be a regular online meditation session happening on the first Sunday of the month. Anyone receiving this newsletter is welcome to join. It’s for 30 minutes and members of Emergence Foundation will be present.
Meditation will begin at 10.00 am BST ending at 10.30 am.
After a brief introduction there will be some very simple instructions on cultivating awareness for those who need it. The meditation will then be silent. For those who would like to stay on for a brief period of 15 – 20 minutes at the end, there will be time for discussion, questions about meditation or sharing of experience.
If you are interested, please join 5 – 10 minutes before 10.00 am using this link: meet.google.com/muh-ojjh-bvx
Save this date: Sunday, August 2nd, followed by the first Sunday of every month.
