A monthly weekend celebration at Sunburst Sanctuary
by Dawn King
On Saturday I hurried to the gym for Patty’s “Celebrate Life!” gentle yoga class. Somehow, I’d gotten there 30 minutes early. My first thought was of distress over all the chores at home that I could have been doing for 30 minutes. Immediately, my right shoulder good angel piped up: “You’re not that important, Dawn. Chill out!”
This was rather humbling to hear. But, I realized this meant home chores would wait, spiritual awareness is more important, and I needed to de-stress. Maybe this was an opportunity to chat with some of the people in the dining room. I found the conversations going on at that moment were quite deep, and seemed hard to join for someone as amped as I was.
I went outside and cleaned the sidewalk. Sunburst’s is a sanctuary for wildlife as well as Spirt. The sidewalk leading to the temple and lodge is used by deer, wild turkeys and pigs, bobcats, foxes, great blue, as well as, white herons and more. It’s a surprise each day to see what tracks and droppings appear there. Meanwhile, everyone enjoys seeing all these wild creatures quite close up. Since no one bothers them, they are very comfortable around people.
Finally, I joined a few folks resting quietly on yoga mats for the last few minutes before class started. This gave me time to contemplate humility and thankfulness, Sunburst’s themes this month. I thanked God for my opportunity to enjoy soul attunement with like-minded friends, some newly made.Later, all who cared to, enjoyed a fun Sacred Geometry presentation and hands-on activity, led by Craig Hanson.
This “Celebrate Life!” weekend of activities took place just before Thanksgiving and Chanukah, which coincide this year. It was beautiful crisp fall weather, with warm days and spirit-warming activities. Each of these monthly celebrations includes: Friday evening restorative yoga, Saturday a.m. guided meditation, light breakfast and gentle yoga, lunch followed by a special activity, early dinner and evening music with short meditation. There’s plenty of time to relax or socialize between events. Sunday’s spiritual grand finale is a deeply inspiring service followed by a lovingly prepared brunch.A lot of connecting, healing, helping, releasing, relaxing and spiritual growing takes place during these wonderful events.
If you have a story to share about your experience at Sunburst’s “Celebrate Life!” please leave a comment below.