“To cultivate the spirit of Water we need to learn to let go of the struggle and practice yielding to the natural flow of life.”

Water is such a powerful, natural healer and energy transformer and is one of the main reasons why we chose Damouchari as a location. The quality of the water there is exceptional: crystal clear and enriched with minerals – you don’t even need to swim, you can float!

We will have an optional trip to the sea caves, led by Hara, where we can experience the depths and beauty of the sea.

Here’s a piece we love on cultivating the spirit of water….

“Cultivating the spirit of Water…nourishing your yin qualities about who you are with loving compassion and acceptance, tapping into your creativity and inner Intuition.

The Water element is about our courage and will.
Just as the buried seed which contains the potential for life in the winter, sprouts spontaneously from the darkness in springtime, forges and pushes ahead against all obstacles in its path upward toward the sky where it becomes what it is meant to be, it is this will for life that has brought us all here to this very moment. It is our will, courage and instincts that help determine our life’s purpose.

Water is a shape shifter and is able to adapt to the hardness of what lies in its path by yielding.

The power of water gives us the flexibility and fluidity for movement. It is our bones and joints that are nourished and lubricated by the Water element.

When we push ourselves beyond our own limits to the point of total exhaustion by overworking, over committing, over analyzing, consuming too many chemical stimulants… we begin to deplete our essence (vitality) and disturb the Kidneys and Water element. We may begin to experience stiffness, tightness and joint pain (esp. low back), lose our initiative and spark for life, become forgetful, more fearful, develop depression, sexual and sleep disturbances, gravitate toward addictive patterns, and/or we freeze and develop ‘cold feet’ whereby we are unable to move forward and take on life.

To cultivate the spirit of Water we need to learn to let go of the struggle and practice yielding to the natural flow of life.
For some, swimming in this uncharted water is a scary thing but we must develop a trust in life and surrender to its tow.
To develop a deeper sense of who were are, we must be willing to plunge into the darkness of the unknown and patiently wait for the potential of a new way of being to come to life. It is in the yin wisdom of the waters where we begin to understand who we are with a deeper sense of clarity and purpose.

If you are overwhelmed and over exhausted practice what it might be like to surrender to the struggle (physically, emotionally, spiritually). Sometimes the greatest gift we can give ourselves is to trust in what we don’t know and see where it takes us. ”

Excerpt from a book on Chinese medicine (exact source unknown)