The inspiration for the theme of this retreat, ‘Meet Me at the Threshold’, came from a

pilgrimage we made from Villa Ossom to a cave on the Côte d’Azur coastline in the depths of winter. Going inside this beautiful cave felt like being at a threshold. Now on the other side of Spring, where the retreat has blossomed into life in the fledgling beginnings of a Provençal summer, it has felt like emerging from that cave. We realise that the medicine of this threshold-meeting time has been as much for ourselves as it was for our participants.

Arriving at a threshold, a marker point for transition and change in our lives, takes courage. Striking the balance between meeting the threshold, daring to dwell in it and not rush past, and yet to step forward affirmatively when the time is right, is a dance in and of itself. And walking across a threshold is also an invitation to acknowledge and 'fall down' into a deeper, wider ground than we have previously been treading.

Getting to the actual 'crossing over' of the threshold is often where the resistance lies. During our week-long retreat, through movement, meditation and art, we explored what overcoming our resistances might mean. The 13th Century mystic philosopher Meister Eckhart spoke of the need we all eventually reach to surrender our 'powers' (or will) to this

deeper ground. The release of expectation gives way to what Eckhart and the mystics called 'gelassenheit', a German word describing an active but tranquil submission to a greater whole.

Likewise, Aldous Huxley said, 'feel lightly even though you're feeling deeply. Just lightly let

things happen and lightly cope with them. Lightly, lightly - it's the best advice ever given to me.' As with most fears we face, once we get to the place of encounter, expansion and joy is to be found in this relinquishing of our conditioned responses.

And so, alongside deep enquiry, delving into the ground of our bodies and opening dusty doors to our internal creative fortresses, we laughed, sang and feasted on the exquisite flavours created by our cook Jean Claude. We danced, we adventured, and we had a lot of fun in the process.

Here is a reflection we shared with the group mid-way through the week as we began to

explore this in our yoga:

'To trust the ground of our essence is to trust the illumination of that ground. This is what

prayer is. Faith. Commitment of weight. It is to give ourselves into that ground where we

surrender our 'powers'. The realisation that what we do or don't do, the things we possess or possess us - the things that happen to us - ultimately do not and cannot define who we are. Forgiveness is to give everything up into that ground. To lay it down. Healing is to walk forward from that ground, from what has been resurrected. Giving it over to the body of the ground. My limited understanding. (This for Christians is Christ, for Buddhists the Buddha Nature). Relationships formed on that basis lead us on into the new life.'

In allowing this surrender to happen through deeper and deeper layers of the body, we find

that ground speaks. It speaks through waves, through the fabric of things as they are, when

we move out of the way. Meister Eckhart calls this the 'illuminated ground'. It is an encounter with what holds us when we have given up our will to manifest, orchestrate or control a particular outcome. And so slowly we arrive at what he called the 'birth of the word in the soul'.

The soul of this land is full of story. Much of Ossom's surrounding landscapes are linked in

some way to Mary. Mary the mother of Jesus and also Mary Magdalene. In the gospels there is reference to Jesus the Christ as 'the word made flesh'. The 'yes' of our surrender, just like the 'yes' of Mary in response to the angel Gabriel, allows the body to give birth to the language imbibed by our practice. To bring it into the light.

And so the panorama of the view from Ossom is full of golden light bouncing off the sea and

mountains. So the ground does appear to be lit up, illuminated from within. As if encountering this illuminated ground for ourselves, we were lifted by the landscapes of wild poppies, prickly pear cactuses and balmy summer skies. Enveloped in an ocean whose translucent blue pierced through memories of a British winter. Like fresh laundry hung out in the dry Mediterranean sun, our bodies were washed, stretched, renewed and folded, ready to be worn again with the feeling of freshly made sheets.

As facilitators we have realised during this time that this is also a threshold of motivation around what we are offering. What is the connection between yoga, art and language? And why does it feel so important to explore this territory at this particular time? Are we properly now feeling our way as a body of humanity towards an edge where these divine connections are needed for our survival?

Our retreats are not a commercial endeavour, but a very personal affair. They are never solely for those invited; there is a reason for offering that comes from inside ourselves. It’s about going deep, a process of weaving good ingredients, with spaciousness, trust and time, but in a light-hearted and informal way. In breaking bread together, simply being there, we experience an alchemy, where design meets nature, the elements converge, and we’re held by something vaster. When we explore the practices of yoga and art, the time together deepens and its potential amplifies. It is as if we are sailing as crew aboard the Ossom ship. Going on individual and collective journeys, to bring us to new shores in ourselves.

On a personal note, we recognise that we have both been on journeys of grief for what we have had to let go of to arrive at this point in our lives. The corners of confusion and hopes and dreams that seem to have gone up in smoke. Narratives that no longer make any sense, if the light that is beckoning us on is really true. And a theme that came up regularly in the group this week is a question: where are you hiding in strategic behaviours, ones you have learnt to get what you think you want, rather than asking and seeking with a pure and authentic heart? Where have your prayers become jaded and self-centred and lacking in truth? What still needs to be let go of to cross over into this new landscape?

This time has really served to open a doorway into what we envision for forthcoming retreats.

We have been brought to remember the motivation behind holding these retreats in the first place; to open doors to family and friends, and friends of friends, and whoever might find a connection to what we're offering in this interface between embodiment and art. A desire to share in this healing sanctuary, and this space that has been cultivated by the Bliss family over the last ten years.

Band of light – deep blue

Ribbons of water – waves washing through

Shadow bounces off the light

Light bounces through the cave

Landing in the fabric of things

We can but bow

We must be brave