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Our lives, a sand mandala - posted by Kate on October 30

Have you had a chance to view the sand mandala in the Sacred Arts of Tibet exhibition at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria?

During the past month,  the monks have been engaged in crafting this beautiful sand painting.  From the centre outward, colourful grain by grain, they have created an elaborate picture of the universe.  Their prayerful and painstaking work has transformed the exhibition room into a sacred space.  It's all the more poignant when you realize that after all that time and effort to place each grain of sand just so,  the project will conclude with the peaceful, almost playful scattering of the sand. 

 

The project is a spiritual exercise of letting go which invites all of us to meditate on the  meaning and beauty of our own lives and creative work.  In this creation and scattering of the mandala, we explore a central paradox of spirituality: within our ever-changing,  living and dying world, we create and discover and live within eternal beauty and meaning.

If you missed seeing the creation of this mandala, you can watch step by step photos of this process in a great BBC feature by clicking here.  The mandala will be on display in the Art Gallery for the next few weeks; it's a great place to spend some time meditating.

  You can learn more about  this exhibit in this Times Colonist article.  It will be at the art gallery until Dec. 5 when there will bea dismantling ceremony and the sand will be gently deposited into the ocean.

Work-Life balance

The Globe and Mail ran a feature today about women's depression.
Dr. Donna Stewart reported that she hears a recurring sentiment from patients suffering from clinical depression: “I don't have any time for myself.”
The trigger for depression in women tends to be stress, generally provoked by time pressure and relationship challenges.
Dr. Stewart says "the lack of work-life balance is a huge factor underlying depression," and the article wraps by suggesting that women need to find coping mechanisms.

..and that's where Queenswood wants to help.
If you have a sneaking suspicion that all the above just might apply to you, there's a retreat here at Queenswood next weekend that will help you discover tools to cope with stress in a healthy way and get a fresh start in your work/life balance.

Registration will close at 9 a.m. on Wednesday. Oct 28. 

Bring a friend-- not only will that be a great way to build ongoing support, but also you'll both get 10% off.

Click here for more info and to register.

Meet Nita Ng

Recently arrived from Malaysia, Nita brings spiritual gifts, talent, and a great personal warmth to share as the newest member of our staff team.  Nita's experience includes work in retreat centres and other ministries in Asia and the USA. 

Nita draws inspiration from the prayer of St Francis, make me a channel of Your peace, which she feels "describes what I want to be when I grow up. Better yet, I get to do it through the “channels” I love – yoga and art."

In addition to her evening work in the Hospitality Centre,  Nita will lead Body Prayer, Laughter Yoga, Aqua Yoga and Asian Art classes using batik, Chinese brush painting and Chinese calligraphy. Nita's joy in prayerful creativity is already evident; she says "I love sharing what I do with others through classes, workshops, retreats, as well as through my paintings and writings."  Of her spiritual journey, Nita says, “Through yoga I found stillness. From there, I began to hear my inner voice, which I also attribute as God’s voice. My paintings and this book is a result of the promptings from within.”

Nita is leading a new class called Aqua Yoga on Tuesday mornings,  as well as drop-in classes in Laughter Yoga  on Thursday mornings, a Body Prayer class on Friday mornings, and a Batik workshop on the last Saturday of each month.

  

Learn more about Nita by visiting her websites: www.YogaPark.blogspot.com and www.RunWaters.blogspot.com


Click here for a full listing of all our new and continuing drop-in classes.