Dear friends,
I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who has invited me to present the Contemplative Aromatherapy retreats since January, to those who hosted the events, and to all that have attended.

So far, since the beginning of the year when I first announced the retreats, there have been ten events: Sedona, AZ; Seattle, WA; Homer, AK; Nevada City, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Santa Fe NM; Boulder CO; Florence, CO; Big Island, HI; and Oahu, HI.

The retreats have ranged in size from fifteen to eighty people and have taken place in yoga studios, Dharma centers, a historic school house in a rainforest, a historic house on Puget Sound, a birthing center, a domed house on a mountain, and a small church.

The response has been overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic; there is a daily stream of appreciative letters from new friends, those who have found something good in the teachings and practices, and new and old supporters of Floracopeia. Many people have opened new wholesale accounts around the country, and now many are joining our new Friends of Floracopeia Mandala Program.

For me, it has been deeply satisfying to share what I believe is a completely new and innovative form of integrative teachings which bring together the practices of Vipassana meditation, the philosophy and concepts of Ayurveda, and the study of aromatic botanical medicine. The interest of all of you has also been a great support to my own contemplative path, assisting me to practice mindfully in the setting of this new sangha every weekend in these mini-retreats.

I would also like to thank all those who have made donations of every kind to support this work, from the envelopes of large and small amounts of money to the hospitality of homes, the use of vehicles, picking us up and delivering us to airports, helping to set up and take down, promotional efforts, and all the other wonderful forms of generosity that have been extended along the way. Additionally, many thanks to everyone for the purchases of oils and products that you have made, which is also why these events have been possible.

All of this could not have happened without the tireless work of the Floracopeia team. Many many thanks to Jai Dev Singh, Laurel Brown, and Kari Lane for making it possible for me to live this lifestyle of travel, creative inspiration, contact with new communities and spiritual practice! It is my hope that they receive as much fulfillment and opportunity from my work as I have from theirs.

The schedule of retreats continues on until the end of the year. A large group is gathering this weekend on Maui, where I have offered many workshops in the past; after this we go to Kauai to complete the Hawaiian tour. Events in the coming months include Carmichael, CA; Anchorage, AK; Sacramento, CA; Silver City, NM; Orlando, FL; Asheville, NC; Florence, MA; New Canaan, CT; and Ardmore, PA. Details can be found on the Floracopeia calendar page.

Many people have requested that the meditation practices and teachings of eco-spirituality that are the basis of these retreats be offered online. I am compiling recordings of the teachings, and also writing the practices out more fully for this purpose. It is my intention that the material of this retreat become available to everyone in both written and audio formats, and that in the future these teachings will be incorporated into our longer seven day certificate program which will be starting next year.

Again, many thanks to all who have helped create these very enjoyable events, and to all who have attended. To those of you who are planning on attending in the future, I will see you soon…
David

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 18th, 2009 at 12:20 am and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.