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Barefoot Burton
USA
19 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 07 2024 : 7:37:06 PM
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My wife and I recently attended the AYP retreat hosted by Tristan and Alex at Eden Rise in Devon, England. We were two of eight students attending, 5 males, and 3 females. This was my second AYP retreat, and my wife?s first.
As with my first AYP retreat, I had a wonderful time (as did my wife) and I further deepened my practice with the AYP routines. Prior to the retreat my wife had started the AYP practices of deep meditation and spinal breathing, so she was already in the groove for the retreat. She has been doing asanas for years, and in that aspect she is much better than me (not that we're comparing or anything  )
Each day of the retreat was broken into two halves, a morning half and an afternoon half.
The morning half, starting at 7 am consisted of asanas (postures) followed by 2 sessions of spinal breathing, deep meditation, samyama, and rest.
A vegetarian meal followed the morning half, and then we were free to either join in on a grounding walk/hike through the Devon countryside or take the time to reflect on our own. On some days, Tristan replaced the walk with a bhajan singing session that he led on acoustic guitar.
The afternoon half, starting at 3 pm consisted again of 45 minutes or so of asanas, followed once again by 2 sessions of spinal breath, deep meditation, samyama and rest.
An evening vegetarian meal followed the afternoon session, and by the way, the meals were fantastic. Our cook, as always, went above and beyond to accommodate everyone?s particular dietary needs.
To end the day, Tristan led a class discussing different techniques on self-inquiry (Advaita) and suggested we experiment with the techniques before the next day?s class. During the class we had the opportunity to ask questions of Tristan and Alex on any subject related to our practice of AYP techniques (not just the ones on self-inquiry).
As most of you on the AYP forum probably already know, the AYP practices are designed for daily solo practice with the intent of listening to your inner guru. However, there is still something wonderful about attending a retreat and connecting with others also on the AYP path. Sharing experiences, making connections, and supporting each other in person is something I find very rewarding, and when you practice with a group, there is a group effect that tends to benefit everyone beyond perhaps just the individual practice effort. It is certainly the case for me anyway.
Tristan and Alex are wonderful teachers (and my wife agrees on this point), with a knowledge base that comes from experience rather than just reading it in a book somewhere. It was also great to be able to spend one-on-one time with each of them in person during the retreat to discuss questions both big and little.
I unequivocally recommend that if you have the opportunity to attend an AYP retreat, please do so.
Now, one footnote. After the evening class and until the end of the next morning?s sessions, we were asked to take a vow of silence. Which is normally fairly easy to do, but when your  WIFE is staying in the same room as you, things can get, how shall we say it, interesting? Yes, she did a good job of honoring the silent period, though there were a few times that I believe she really needed to inform her husband of something quite important  , but unfortunately it just had to wait until the next day when the silent period ended. 
My wife and I would both like to attend another AYP retreat next year, and so we plan to attend Tristan's retreat at Bala Brook in Devon, England, in 2025. As we live in the United States, it is a significant expense for us to make the trip, but for both of us it is worth it.
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Dogboy
USA
2293 Posts |
Posted - Jul 09 2024 : 03:52:30 AM
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Wow, Burton, thank you so much for this review! I will attend an AYP retreat some day (within the decade?) so I appreciate your observations. To have a supportive partner is fantastic, it must keep things fresh in the marriage! It was my extreme pleasure to meet you last April, we sure packed a lot in a few days. Is the retreat with Luke in Plainville MA still on? Until we meet again |
Edited by - Dogboy on Jul 09 2024 03:55:00 AM |
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Barefoot Burton
USA
19 Posts |
Posted - Jul 10 2024 : 04:21:47 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Dogboy
Wow, Burton, thank you so much for this review! I will attend an AYP retreat some day (within the decade?) so I appreciate your observations. To have a supportive partner is fantastic, it must keep things fresh in the marriage! It was my extreme pleasure to meet you last April, we sure packed a lot in a few days. Is the retreat with Luke in Plainville MA still on? Until we meet again
Dogboy! Good to hear from you again! Yes, I am very blessed to have a partner who is open to AYP and is continuing to follow the practices on a daily basis. She continues to explore other techniques as well, whereas I am seriously locked in to AYP to the exclusion of anything else. But we do have some common overlap that makes for some "good vibes."
It was my pleasure as well to hang out in your neighborhood for a few days and live the life of an honorary dogboy. Looking forward to doing it again someday soon. You were a most gracious host.
I have not seen any updates on the proposed retreat by Luke in Massachusetts. Hopefully details will be forthcoming soon so that commitments can be made. Perhaps if the stars align somewhere in the future, we'll cross paths at an AYP retreat.
My wife and I will be attending Tristan's retreat in Devon, England in May, 2025. I know it is a long way out, and a serious time and money commitment, but I'm quite confident that you would really enjoy the experience if you could possibly pull it off. Perhaps if during your Samyama sessions, you softly released the phrase "attend retreat" into your inner silence a couple of times, then the retreat would effortlessly manifest for you.
Until we meet again.
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lpiscit2
USA
5 Posts |
Posted - Jul 23 2024 : 12:44:29 AM
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Hi Barefoot Burton and Dogboy, Thank you for your interest in the retreat! Unfortunately the 16 AUG is not going to happen, however I am still actively looking to make a retreat happen, likely in 2025. Barefoot Burton, I have heard great things about you from Dogboy and I look forward to meeting you in person one day soon!
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Barefoot Burton
USA
19 Posts |
Posted - Jul 24 2024 : 04:45:52 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by lpiscit2
Hi Barefoot Burton and Dogboy, Thank you for your interest in the retreat! Unfortunately the 16 AUG is not going to happen, however I am still actively looking to make a retreat happen, likely in 2025. Barefoot Burton, I have heard great things about you from Dogboy and I look forward to meeting you in person one day soon!
Thanks for the update on the retreat. Sorry it did not work out this time.
Looking forward to meeting you as well, though I should advise that Dogboy was most likely distracted by his attainment of an elevated state of samadhi during his brief time with me and may therefore be considerably overstating "great things" as in regards to my moral character.
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Eden Rise AYP Retreat Review June 2024
