Findhorn Foundation News.

The Universal Heartbeat

Hello everyone,

The dunes around Findhorn are a sea of gorse-and-broom yellow and the ospreys are back, hovering above Findhorn Bay at low tide. In the month leading to summer (or winter) solstice I continue to feel the interweaving of dramatic global events with the more immediate concerns of my own life. I feel my own beating heart, but at the same time I feel the universal heartbeat uniting us. It is in this spirit of connecting with both your 14,000 individual daily lives and the historic unfolding which affects us, unites us and in which we all play a part, that I send love and light to the Findhorn global family.

After a lively Conscious Medicine conference (see daily conference reports) and a visit from 270 school children in March, the buzz of spring continues. Last week the 20 new chickens in Cullerne laid 95 eggs; we held an enormously successful five-day experience for three people and their carers from L'Arche, a worldwide organisation that creates spiritual community for people with learning disabilities, in our new workshop space, Legacy; and the Foundation’s Trustees, joined by a variety of community people, listened to a powerful Peter Caddy talk (circa 1980s) about manifestation and abundance and the benefits of deleting ‘if’ and ‘can’t’ from our vocabulary.

Since I emailed in March, the new Living Education Apprenticeship Programme has inspired 11 people to join our service departments, the building of the first of three eco-mobiles in Pineridge West for staff housing has begun, the Soillse Co-Housing Project near the barrel houses is underway and there is a wave of enthusiasm for creating new structures of community governance to support all facets of the community moving into the future as one. I look forward to this kind of cooperation also happening on a world scale…

Wherever we are on the planet we are all part of global systems which are unraveling at an interesting rate. As part of the Foundation’s commitment to providing experiential and relevant education, the programmes and trainings we offer in July offer practical ways to work with ourselves and the systems in which we live, to co-create a new global system of which we are all proud. Expect a miracle!

The first step might be to join in the wonderfully named The Elusive Obvious, beginning June 2, led by Roger Linden, where you can learn and practise simple, natural ways of easing the mental, emotional and physical strain of living with a false sense of separation.

Whole-Systems Healing for the Self and Much More, July 16, offers deep-systems healing work that has emerged from the systemic and family constellation field. The week will bring insight to any personal, professional, social or family issues, helping to free you from illness or addictive habits and bring movement to all the systems, intimate and planetary, of which you’re an integral part.

Also beginning July 16, the fifth annual Findhorn Nonviolent Communication Intensive, a training with Dominic Barter, Kit Miller and Leo Sofer, will explore the changes in relationships that NVC invites, with lovers, friends and colleagues, as well as with the social systems and power structures within which we live. Whether you are new to NVC or are an old hand, the invitation is to experience some creative disorientation and begin to find an inner compass for navigating a world where everyone’s needs matter.

Another creative way of working is through The Adventure of Mythodrama – A Foundation Training, July 23-30, with Richard Olivier, Lesley Quilty, Ben Walden and Geoff Mead. Mythodrama works imaginatively, emotionally and physically through a wisdom story – this time, Shakespeare’s Henry V – to explore the inspired leader in all of us. Participants will have the opportunity to develop their own story or myth as a teaching tool.

Dragon Dreaming, also July 23-30, uses a living systems way of making our dreams come true, drawing on the long experience of the Australian Gaia Foundation and the deep understanding of indigenous Australian Aboriginal and other ecological wisdom. John Croft, co-founder of the Gaia Foundation of Western Australia, will use experiential exercises to access participants’ inner Dragon’s lair, the true source of power, and show how holistic living systems-theory can be applied to any project you wish to undertake.

Finally, I particularly recommend Healing Through Art – a two week training, July 30 – August 12, as it will be the wonderful Karin Werner’s last workshop before retirement. Making Visible and Becoming Visible looks at life as a work of art, where we can strengthen our capacity to form new patterns in life, transform old ones and accept and appreciate our efforts to live life as creators. For both budding and accomplished artists, tuition and support is given in painting, drawing and sculpting playfully and deeply, and to connect the arts with self, nature and inner work. The course is non-residential and takes place at the Moray Art Centre at The Park.

As I reflect on the variety of programmes the Foundation offers and the wide spectrum of ages and nationalities who participate, I can’t help but think about Eileen, Peter and Dorothy living in a 30×9 foot caravan growing 52 types of vegetables, 21 sorts of fruit and 42 different herbs through their communication with the interconnected natural systems around them. How amazing it is that they unknowingly birthed a community which has, in turn, birthed so many other amazing initiatives. With this as our model, how can any of us doubt our ability to influence global change?

Everyone at Findhorn is grateful for your continued partnership and support and for all the benefits of extended family. We are truly a community of spirit. And to celebrate this we’d like to share with you our Spring 2011 Newsletter. Enjoy!

With love and laughter.

Yvonne Cuneo
For the Communications Team

25 May 2011