On the 28th of May to the 1st of June I had the wonderful opportunity to participate and present a workshop for the 4th Spirit of Humanity Forum in Reykjavik, Iceland (my favourite place on Earth to be)
On the 28th evening we were invited to a reception at the City Hall in Reykjavik. The first person I came in contact with going to the reception was Dina, an inspiring woman, who is teaching girls financial literacy. I also met sister Maureen Goodman whom I had the pleasure of meeting in Malaysia last year. There were speeches made by various people, one of them was the assistant to the mayor of Reykjavik.
With Sister Maureen and Sister Jayanti of the Brahma Kumaris
With Dina who educates children on financial literacy.
The next day, I had the pleasure of being greeted by sister Jayanti of the Brahma Kumaris who said that she was waiting to meet me as she heard that I was presenting a workshop on that day. I had intended to acknowledge her the evening before during the reception, but there was a long row of people waiting to speak to her that evening.
With Sybil from Berlin, walking by the sea during the evening... (It never gets dark in the summer in Iceland!)
I met a few very interesting people during the morning program, at the auditorium. A few of them had signed up for the workshop which I was facilitating. The people I had met during the conference were very interesting mix of various ages and backgrounds. Most of them whom I met were doing interesting work around the globe which is helping humanity in some form or the other. Interestingly, I met a few nomads... varying from ages 20 something to probably around 60 something. It is something I am contemplating to pursue in the future. Traveling while facilitating workshops and teaching yoga around the world. So I was very inspired by everyone whom I had met during the forum!
The next day, I was greeted with a warm welcome and a hug by Sister Jayanti, who said that she was waiting to meet me, as I was presenting a workshop that afternoon. My workshop was titled 'The Hero's Journey,' with the focus on maintaining spiritual resilience in a chaotic world.
These are a few of the pictures and a couple of very short videos of the workshop:
I have to say that I had the most wonderful, fun, group of people attending my workshop. I actually allowed a few more people in than the maximum stated on the list, until the space couldn't accommodate anymore people. The participants of my workshop had a lot of positive comments and feedback about their experience of the workshop. My favourite one was when a man probably about in his 60s, said that he decided to choose my workshop because he had wanted to experience something he would never usually choose. He said that he was so glad he did, as he had thoroughly enjoyed participating and doing something out of his ordinary. One other person said that she felt that it was healing and that she didn't want it to end. There were many more positive comments. The participants actually stayed another extra 30 minutes!
Our last session of the day was a group session where we shared our experience of what we had learned and enjoyed about the day. There were at least 4 people who had attended my workshop in my group. It was nice to hear that all four of the participants said that the favourite part of that day for them was being in the workshop which I had facilitated! I too said that the best part of that day for me was facilitating my workshop and I had so much fun watching all of them play, laugh and express amazing creativity!
The next day the facilitator of the small group I belonged to during the days of the forum, asked me to facilitate a warm up session, as she said she heard many positive remarks about the workshop which I had facilitated. I was also asked to play the flute to represent my group on the last day.
Exploring Reykjavik after the end of the Forum
It was wonderful to hear so many inspiring stories about people of all ages, especially the young adults, about the challenges that they have faced which help lead them to contribute significantly, where help is truly needed in the world.
I felt a greater sense of hope and found many who were in my 'tribe'. I felt inspired to move toward that which feels like my calling.
I would like to thank Fabiana Crespo for some of these wonderful photos.
I would also like to thank the participants who had attended my workshop. I experienced so much joy facilitating the workshop and witnessing their enthusiasm, creativity and playfulness!
