TRUE YOGA BEGINS IN THE HEART May the Message of God reach far and wide, illuminating and making the whole world of Humanity one single Family in the Parenthood of God Sufi Prayer Special Edition Intuitive Yoga-Retreat with Eleanora Lipton Island of Schwanenwerder, Berlin, Germany from 13. 17. August 2015 Contents 1. The Horoscope for the Retreat from Iris Breuert 2. The Place, the Hotel, the Kitchen and Nature 3. Board member Gabriele Gack-Thomas: My personal report 4. Board member Dagmar Schwentker: When you travel far enough, you will finally meet yourself 5. Board member Birgit Bever: My Impressions 6. Board member Christine Elfi Uhlemann: Essence 7. Board member Gisela Kissing: Eleanora in Germany 8. Feedback from participants 9. Gratitude Message from Eleanora 10. Moon und Sun Salutation à la Eleanora 11. Online-Streaming - with Weiland-Wissen to a new and modern product 12. New: Internet platform on YouTube: The Association has its own Channel: Watch Interviews with participants about the Yoga Course and Polarity 13. How to move on from here? In Form, you are the Microcosm, in Reality you are the Macrocosm Rumi, the mystic Poet october 2015 1
die kleine polarity energie post Health is wealth, inner peace is happiness, Yoga reveals the path. Eleanora Lipton 2. The place, the house, the kitchen and surrounding nature A dreamlike place, an island in the Lake Wannsee, the historical building with access to the lake, with mature trees, a big lawn, and a view of the lake, covered with a mystical morning mist or steeped into the red-glowing sunset in the evening, with birds and swans splashing and taking in the tranquility of a time standing still. It feels so special, when the swans come visiting us each morning while we meditate, facing the lake, Eleanora leading us gently through the elements and we awaken our bodies with various simple Easy Yoga Stretches before breakfast. The weather is on our side, and the elements present themselves in the best possible ways. This is total regeneration, replenishing, releasing old baggage into the water, experiencing stillness und the sense of unity, moving into the place of oneness again and again, with oneself, each other and nature. The staff is friendly and supportive and really loves our Polarity community and they let us know that we would be very welcome to come again. We are delighted, we can take our mealtimes outside on the veranda, enjoying the warm weather and sunshine. The vegetarian kitchen is varied and liked by most. Our main workroom looks like a Japanese Temple, with walls made out of glass and red painted frames. The trees are so close, reaching out to us while inside, and when almost touching the glass walls, we feel no difference between the inside and outside. If outdoors or indoors, we feel conscious about nature surrounding us, we breathe it in and merge with it. A true sense of well deserved luxury We are looked after, and feel welcome with all that we are. october 2015 3
You don t always need a plan. Sometimes it s enough to just breathe, trust and see what happens. Eleanora Lipton 3. Board Member Gabriele Gack-Thomas My personal experience of the Intuitive Yoga-Retreat in Berlin-Wannsee Over 15 years ago, before I began to learn about Polarity, I started practicing Tai Chi and Qigong. Now, for the first time, I m taking part in a yoga retreat. I m very curious how the two great eastern versions of health exercise compare. During a yoga trial session which I attended a while ago, it occurred to me, that in some exercises the butt and belly are tensed. The method I learned then seemed to me very demanding. By comparison Eleanora s method is for me easy and playful. Back up, if you can t do it yet! Another time she said, with respect to teaching yoga: Find the opening in everybody. I see the yoga method in contrast to Qigong more fiery; there s more workout in it. The way my body feels afterward pleases me. I m alert, present. Qigong, for me, is the gentler method, although there one must also stretch and perform a series of demanding movements which one only gets a feel for after much practice. That s why in Qigong the danger to overestimate oneself appears to me not to be so great. My conclusion: Yoga requires a certain amount of body awareness - or a teacher like Eleanora. I am very curious how Eleanora will teach us. And I want to know, what Intuitive Yoga really is and what it has to do with Polarity. And what does intuitive mean? In the morning before breakfast we start the day with a breathing meditation of the five elements. We place our mats right along the shore of the lake. So idyllic. And it is like this every morning. I experience the purifying power of the breath. Later on, after the first Yoga exercises that are later on leading to the sun salutation, I know already that I am in good hands. Not being as flexible as my teacher, I feel nervos. Eleanora s most important advice for me is: Backing up. As soon as it is too much for me, I go back a gear, I move back one step. And when something seems impossible to do for me, I can ask her for easier moves to do prior to the current exercise, so I can catch up step by step, approaching it slowly. The powerful Ha-Breath is as helpful as the backing up which she uses herself a lot and reminds us of many times during the retreat. To breath either a short Ha or an almost moaning Haaaa or Hoooo into the strong lengthening stretches and consciously held tensions is very effective and helps me to stay with it. The Angst sits in the diaphragm. Eleanora says. I can see, how the strong stretches, particularly of my achilles tendon and leg muscles cause stress. And I seem to create this new habit fast, as I can already stay longer in the lengthening pose. So I move my body limit just a tiny bit and slowly extend my reach. That brings good feelings, my first success experiences! I sit or squat in the most impossible pose, it twitches everywhere, I do the Haaaa, breath into the tight places and smile! Eleanora reminds us often to smile. Generally, she loves to smile and does so often. Who wouldn t want to learn in a smiling fashion? october 2015 4
Even though the method of yoga I heard in a beginners yoga class before, which was pretty strict, Eleanora s approach is soft and playful and inspiring me. Back up, if you are not there yet. Find the opening in every human being, she calls it another time. (Hm, this is also the way in Polarity!) We are learning how to guide and teach clients and patients. You find an opening with every human being, no matter how small it might be, to the unpracticed body, when joints may be stiff because of illness or lack of movement. That s when she gets real creative and intuitive! Even when she demonstrates the exercises I notice this playful element. She might wiggle herself into the final pose, until the foot or the hand is placed just right, or the weight is completely balanced. Even this removes my angst, and I look for my position. Because the path is the goal. And the goal is to feel really comfortable. What a concept! There is a lot of Polarity I see in there. And I really like that Eleanora loves quoting Dr. Stone and does so quite often, calls on his spirit, his love for people, his deep insights and human spirituality, - and his life force. The universe is our storehouse of energy, he said and then, Eleanora asks with a question mark, we often feel exhausted? I feel Yoga compared to Qigong more fiery, there is more workout in it. I like my body feeling afterwards, I am awake and present. Qigong is the gentler method for me, even though we also have stretches and complicated series of movements, which you will only unravel after much practice. In Qigong it seems that I may not be tempted so easily to do more than I am capable of. My summary: In Yoga you need a certain body awareness to begin with or a teacher like Eleanora. Gabriele Gack-Thomas Look forward to meet your Self, to play with Yoga, and to feel the energy flow and breath with awareness. E. Lipton 4. Dagmar Schwentker, board member: When you travel far enough, you will finally meet yourself. (Captain Jon Luc Picard of the Enterprise )! The place itself was already enough to open our hearts. The morning meditations lead by Eleanora added to that. During the Intuitive Yoga-Retreat she opened numerous possibilities to be with our body in gentle and loving ways. I was very impressed and found it helpful to dissolve a blockage or pain through mindful inhalations and exhalations. For me, my trip to Berlin turned out to become a very deep journey. Through my own painful process, I was able to apply a lot of things I learned in these days. Today I can say: I finally met myself! With deep gratitude to all of you as my companions on this journey I greet you all. Namaste, Dagmar Consciously be aware of the Moment between the expansion and contraction of the tissue, Sense this space, breathe into this space and the patterns will transform. E. Lipton october 2015 5
Be playful with your own imperfection Eleanora Lipton 9. Eleanora Lipton s gratitude to all participants I write to you to express my gratitude and joy for this extraordinary retreat. Thank you for your presence, focus and endurance. Each one of you touched my heart deeply. Each moment, we spent together inspired my mind and heart. Each phase of our work ignited my energy. My promise to you had been to lift you to a new level of your being. The truth is, that you lifted me to the next level. Thank you. I am so grateful to Gisela, the other board members and whole association. You gave me a gift for life. And thank you George for your gift of communication and Mark for your incredible patience and endurance, to capture each moment. Thank you Lakshmi for holding such sacred space with your presence for our work in this world. You help me to believe, that anything is possible. I thank all masters and sages as well as Dr. Stone and my Polarity Community, all visible and invisible Beings, who contributed to my knowledge, my strength and my abilities, to serve this world. I love you all from my heart and wish you a life full of joy, peace and fulfillment, for the benefit of all. Namaste, Eleanora Lipton Interview with Eleanora here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvytirvqnia october 2015 9
die kleine polarity energie post We did it. We are happy, content and a little exhausted. The Board Members: Gisela Kissing, Christine Elfi Uhlemann, Dagmar Schwentker, Birgit Bever and Gabriele Gack-Thomas From my heart Impressum/Kontakt PVD e.v., 1. Vorsitzende Tel: 030-80484854 vorstand@polarity-verband.de Am Löwentor 10, 14109 Berlin october 2015 13