We have a yoga retreat coming up. The last week of March 31/3/23 – 2/4/23 in the exquisite mountains of Springbrook. And yes, these affairs are planned and advertised months in advance as my very busy students need some warning to factor in this spectacular weekend.

This yoga retreat: Move, Breathe, Love - is all about your biome and how your biome is but a reflection of the biome of Mother Earth. And by connecting to, and nourishing the 39 trillion microbial cells including bacteria, viruses and fungi that rule us with an interconnected intelligence – influencing how we digest our food, our mental health and how conscious we really are, we will take this great leap in awareness and realise that we are all metaphors of the biome of the Earth and the consciousness of the planet. Sound farfetched? Not in the world of yoga which, philosophically, is light years ahead of the rational scientific model worshipped by the Western world. In yoga we see the world in terms of energy, of conscious exchange, of love and abundance, of self-responsibility and self-discipline.

About 40 years ago, Lovelock and Margulis developed their famous Gaia Hypothesis. From a Gaian perspective, living systems on Earth were capable of steering the planet toward conditions that were favourable to life. Expanding on this hypothesis, scientists now talk about “Earth Systems”, the strongly coupled interplay of atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, geosphere and biosphere. An evolving, synergistic, intelligent planet.

There are many examples of collective intelligence in the natural world. Colonies of social insects, like bees, show a collective and often superior intelligence than the individuals that form them. A single bee holds only a small amount of information about the world, but its colony as a whole knows and responds to the environment. Fungal networks, known as mycorrhizal networks, that share water and nutrients between individual trees in forests also reveal a form of collective intelligence. Researchers have found that fungal networks allow forests stretching hundreds of miles to recognize and respond to changing conditions.

Yogic, Buddhist, Taoist, and Sufi masters trained in the metaphysical traditions can reach and participate in wider portions of the consciousness spectrum, and, in some cases, touch the unique form of consciousness that is manifested by the Earth. Certainly, very many Native traditions, including our own First Nations peoples, talk of Mother Earth and experience the Earth as a living conscious being.

Right now, the consciousness of humanity is fragmented and divided against itself. But on yoga retreat we will quiet our minds, observe the breath, connect with our biomes and aim to connect to the consciousness of our human species that is joining with the consciousness of the Earth to form an emergent Planetary Consciousness. Because consciousness is the birthplace of change.

Margot Wagner
Yoga Under the Bodhi Tree

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The yoga studio is closed for maintenance from the 6/11/22 – 13/11/22.