Sylvia said, "You dears are the last to arrive. Let us get you checked in straight away. Sophie," she shouted.
One of her team, Sophie presumably and around 20, then presented us with a couple of fruit juices. We quickly downed those and then Sophie collected our keys from behind the desk and then offered to show us to our rooms which were apparently up two flights of stairs.
Before we went up Sylvia told us that before dinner, she was giving an introduction about the week for all the guests in the library at 1800 so we should freshen up and come down for that. The stairway was very grand, and wood panelled but it was a struggle with our cases and I thought they could do with a lift here. It was obvious that the centre struggles to maintain the building and it was crying out for some maintenance. My room was simple accommodation, pretty basic actually, but it did at least have an en-suite. Oh well I had not expected a luxury hotel.
I looked out of the window and could now see not one but two hot tubs. 'Great', I thought. I love hot tubs. These were not the huge modern fibre glass types but the old-fashioned wooden round ones that look like giant beer barrels. There was steam rising from them and both already had three or four occupants who seemed to be well settled in and knew each other and were laughing and joking. They must be regulars, I thought; must have been before. I suddenly felt a little intimidated and nervous. Everyone will know each other. I will be the odd one out. I wondered what I had let myself in for. At least I knew Joshua. But then I thought that I should not be so easily spooked. I actually love hot tubs and spas as much as anyone. And outdoor hot tubs are always the best. I could not help but wondered what the occupants were wearing, if anything, but I was too far away to tell. There was also large marquee in the grounds, and I wondered what that was for.
It was one of those moments in life when I really had no idea what to expect or what to do so as far as I was concerned 6 o'clock could not come soon enough. I did not even change from the clothes I had travelled in. I just wanted it to get going so I could get the feel for what to wear, and what I should be doing. I so envied those people who had arrived early and were confident enough to already be laughing and joking in the hot tubs. Just before 6 o'clock Joshua tapped on my door and when I answered it, I was relieved to see that he was still fully clothed. At least I had not got that wrong. He led me down to the library where everyone was gathering. It turned out there were about twenty of us there plus Sylvia. It was difficult to tell who was an organiser and who was a guest as the seating was very informal with everyone just reclining in the various sofas and padded chairs around the room. Thankfully everyone was dressed.
Sylvia Introduces the Retreat
Sylvia introduced herself again and the centre and just came across as a tornado of positive energy and enthusiasm. She really looked like she was delighted to be meeting us and hosting this retreat. She said she had founded the centre with her partner about five years previously and they held about eight retreats per year. They also used the centre as a base for one on one personal counselling and meditation training. She explained that the centre was also a popular wedding venue and they hosted about fifteen weddings per year. It was this that made the centre financially viable and enabled them to run the meditation centre on the back of that business. That explains the marquee I thought.
It then started to get interesting. She reminded us that this was a naturist meditation centre. Sylvia said that we will already know that this is a rare beast and that they used to be the only one in the UK but now there is apparently a second in the North West that is run by a friend who originally attended at this centre. Sylvia stressed that this was truly a mind, body and spirit wellness centre and their aim is that when you leave you will be totally relaxed and restored. She said that she liked to describe the retreat as, 'you come here to lose yourself and find yourself''. She said that we will also hopefully have adjusted and recalibrated our views and feelings about our own sexuality and desires in things such as naturism, promiscuity, exhibitionism and spirituality and feel empowered to truly be ourselves going forward. 'I could use some of that', I thought.
She said that we will not see these retreats advertised anywhere online and that is because it could potentially attract the wrong people for the wrong reasons. She said this week there were eighteen of us taking part and of these eight had attended before. She said that for those of us who were here for the first time, someone in our community has seen in us the qualities and interests and felt our energy and believed that we would fit with them here and enrich their community, and recommended us to them. I turned to Joshua next to me and smiled and he winked and smiled back. It surprised me and still does that retreats like this existed and were all going on while the rest of us were at work doing mundane boring jobs! That sense of surprise was to evolve into amazement as this and a subsequent retreat unfolded and became increasingly high octane sexually liberal.
Sylvia repeated that everyone here has been recommended by someone who is already in our wider community of people who had been before or were in a related field and working as for example professional healers, spiritual guides, masseurs etc. She said that this wider community of kindred spirits is very important to all of us. It is, if you like, a support group of followers who we keep in touch with by email, and we have a private online discussion group where you are able to raise questions, personal problems etc. This important community that we are all invited to be part of is a new support group of friends available for us to pursue and explore our interests in naturism in combination with spiritual intelligence. This network of spiritual friendships is what Buddhists call the Sangha community. She strongly encouraged us to make new friends amongst the other guests. She said that it was often the case that people have enjoyed their retreat here so much and found it to be such a profound experience that they have experienced a real let down and withdrawal symptoms afterwards when they try to return to their normal lives. She said this was where a support group was so important and would be a real help to us. It was apparently common for people to meet up with another participant after the retreat and practice together. 'Practice what?' I thought.
Sylvia encouraged us to build a support group of a network of mutual supporters who were, as she described it, on the same spiritual journey and at the same point in their journey of discovery and searching. She really believed that when we went home, we will find that we need this network as the new world we discover here will not exist for us outside and this may cause problems for us. I have to say at that point I was not convinced and had no idea what she was talking about, but 'boy oh boy' did I understand by the end of the week.
Sylvia then explained that a great deal of the philosophies and beliefs practiced here were based on ancient Buddhism but that this was not a Buddhist centre or affiliated with any Buddhist organisation.
On a practical note Sylvia then went on to apologise that the bedrooms were a little basic and spartan. She said that before they bought the centre it was used as a monastery for monks. She knew that they needed updating but the centre could not yet afford to do them. People usually find that by the time they retire they are so tired they sleep really well here. She said that to be honest the investment that they had made so far had been in the purchase of the marquee to enable them to host weddings, and the building of our 'splendid' temple which we use for meditation and most other classes and services.
The food was similarly described as simple, healthy and vegetarian. It would not be gourmet here but neither would you put any weight on here and may even lose a little but that was not the objective.
Regarding alcohol she said that this was a health retreat and that they do not stock or serve alcohol except at the 'party' on the last evening. There was a little groan and a giggle here and there. I thought that it would not do me any harm. However, they do apparently offer a kind of traditional fruit cocktail which one of the resident spiritual guides- Shiva - mixes for us to an ancient Indian recipe but keeps the precise contents a closely guarded secret! A fairly short Indian man in a white dhoti and a long white tunic gave a smile and a wave. Sylvia said that this juice will relax you and make you feel a little happy if you have a couple of glasses, and is freely available throughout the centre so we should feel free to indulge.
I was pleased to hear Sylvia say that smart phones were not permitted outside of the bedrooms during the retreat. This was a necessary part of the treatment and therapy at this retreat which will not be effective with the continuing distractions of smart phones. I was so relieved to hear that I would not be surrounded by people endlessly staring at and swiping their phones all week- one of my personal pet hates of this modern world. She emphasised that phones were absolutely not allowed in the temple and to take one in would be a cardinal sin! I doubted that anyone would cross or disobey the irrepressible bundle of energy that was Sylvia. She also added that with this being a naturist retreat all photography was banned and that was another reason why they could not permit having smart phones around the place.
She had a real bee in her bonnet about this. Sylvia made one final plea that during this week we actually accessed our smart phones as little as possible She said that these phones are a curse and a big contributor to the increasing inability of people to live in the moment, notice the world around them, or communicate face to face with others. She said that we would get a lot more out of this retreat if we gave our phones the week off. I could not agree more and again her frankness and outspoken opinionated views made me chuckle.
Sylvia then went on to say that although this was ostensibly a naturist meditation centre nudity was not compulsory. She said that you could wear as much or as little as you felt comfortable with for the meditations and workshops. The only rules were that in the restaurant at meal times for hygiene reasons you should slip on the robe that was left in your bedroom. Also, no swimming costumes were permitted in the hot tubs because firstly it was her view that swimming costumes were an absurd ridiculous custom and a completely redundant item of clothing, and secondly that if one person wears one it can make others feel awkward about whether they also needed to wear one. I could not agree with her more and I was beginning to like her outspoken manner and found her quite amusing. "Thirdly," she chuckled, "the detergent in the fabric gets into the water and makes it all foamy!"
That evening Sylvia did not want to go into too much detail about the programme except to say that it was a packed agenda of loving kindness meditations, yoga, and group workshops sessions on breathing exercises, touching, being touched and held, feeling and embracing, and spiritual connection. The aim was to apparently 'activate and stimulate our energy centres and establish real spiritual connection between us'. I had no idea what she was talking about, but I have to say it all sounded extremely intriguing. She said that during the week we would be spending the majority of our time in the temple.
She added that whilst all the programme is ultimately optional their most sacred daily session is the Sunrise meditation at the start of the day before breakfast. She asked that we especially committed to attend the Sunrise meditation service to start the day and 'get our energy adjusted and aligned with the rhythm of the retreat.' It was interesting she referred to it as a 'service'. I could not imagine anyone not doing what they were told by Sylvia- certainly not me! She said that similarly we will finish each day with a second sacred meditation at sunset which this week was occurring at about quarter past eight in the evening so this will be held after supper. Apparently when it is warm enough these meditations are held on the roof of the temple on the 'Zen deck' in the open air, but if it is too cold or raining then they hold them inside the temple below.
