Thailand 2018 Retreat Day 5: Meeting Your Money Shadow
Day 5 was my favourite day of the retreat - it was the day of hiking, sweat lodges and full moon fire ceremonies...it was magic.
It was also the day I got to teach my work and some healing things I learned from my mother.
We started the day with tantra yoga, meditation and breakfast as usual.
And then moved onto the activities.
1. Hiking and caves
We went hiking and climbed 500 stairs to get to the top of a mountain and watch the view and pray.
We also explored an ancient cave and connected with all things Buddha in the cave.
This experience was levels for many of us. For me it was like "oh cool" but I know for others in our group it was life changing and soul altering.
I got to see that and am wowed.
We also got to ride at the back of the van and have epic epic conversations on so much.
When I say this retreat did things for me, please believe me fam.
2. Seeing Mala Dhara's Garden
This was truly awesome but I admit to missing part of this because I had already started teaching my lesson on money shadows.
But I am so inspired by Mala Dhara's vision which is to serve food that has been grown on their land.
When we were there we got a taste of this food and even had peanut butter and vegan mayonaise made on the premises.
Even the rice we ate is grown by them.
When people grow their own rice, I know they are serious about this food revolution thing.
Nuf said.
3. Meeting our money shadows
This was one of my favourite lessons for me because we got to befriend our money shadows which can be super powerful.
I love teaching and doing guided meditations on meeting our money shadow.
The money shadow is the thing we want to hide and fight in our finances but the more we fight it, the more it fights back and eventually overwhelms us and causes financial chaos.
So in this lesson I took everyone through guided meditations and journaling sessions to meet and befriend their money shadow.
Afterwards we had a moment of realisation that for most Black women, its easier for us to hold each other when we are in pain but harder for us to celebrate each other when we are thriving.
We know how to be strong and to manage pain but we are still learning how to be at home with pleasure and ease.
Thriving and expanding can come at a cost with criticism of changing, loss of friendships and broken relationships.
4. Sweat Lodge
This was in the evening and it was gorgeous - it was a herbal sauna.
We put natural foods and products on our skin and just went in to sweat out all the toxins and let ish go physically.
Mala Dhara has the most amazing sauna. It's just gorgeous.
We got to do another lesson in there where we each unpacked our shadow and how to work with her.
5. Fire Ceremony
The fire ceremony was after the sweat lodge. Mala Dhara made a big bon fire for us and gave us pen and paper for a ritual to release the things that were holding us back.
It was also a full moon on this day, so this was the perfect time to do this ceremony, according to the moonology healers - under the stars under the full moon.
We were kinda in awe when we looked up at the sky.
After dinner we went back to the fire and did an intention session which was so beautiful.
I can only speak for myself - but I felt something shift in this session.
I was so exhilarated and thought the magic was over because this was the final night of the retreat...but that's cos I had no clue Lebo was going to give each of us blessings the next morning.
