“I found myself enveloped in a flower of colourful petals, it was intense and beautiful”

There’s something very comforting having a full belly of food then languorously basking in the afternoon sun. Something inside tells me this is what we are meant to do after lunch.

Ann was a successful lawyer in Germany before she moved here often travelling and participating in retreats. She fell in love. Dolf and Ann married and hosted retreats sometimes as many as fifty week long retreats in a year. They met some amazing teachers and participants.

Dolf, Marcus and Ann

Marcus was one such teacher who passionately adored the area, visiting regularly for the past 20 years. An unusual lecturer from Germany captivated by Tibetan teachings, his bright joyous energy a delight to be present in. This afternoon he leads us into Tsa Lung, a particular Tibetan meditation involving deep breathwork and movement. Having experienced many meditations before this is my first experience of Tsa Lung, so I’m intrigued.

Tsa Lung is a dynamic Tibetan meditation and breathwork practice that works intensively on our subtle body. Tsa means channel and Lung means wind. The practice requires holding of the breath, specialised seated movements and visualisation to help open up the subtle channels, release blockages and restore a healthy flow of prana. The presence of blockages is said to cause imbalances in our physical, mental and energetic health and therefore purification of these channels is necessary in order to gain clarity, wisdom and health.

I’m told when the wind flows freely, this energy can be used for self-healing or can be given to others.

Path to the meditation hut

We silently walk to the meditation room on the hillside, a simple wooden hut warmed through by the heat of the afternoon sun. The mountain air of pine and rosemary fills the room. Marcus begins step by step explaining this unique practice and we start to follow, I notice its effects immediately.

We are told to bring something forward in our mind that is disturbing us – something that makes us angry, some negativity or doubt – then we go through a series of breathing techniques inhaling deeply, imagining the air flowing through the channels then strongly releasing the breath.  It wasn’t difficult to bring to mind the current issues going on in the world and how angry I felt, particularly about the lockdowns, life had just been taken away from us. The breath felt good. As we continued a clearing, a dissolving, a lessening of tension and anxiety associated with the thought-feeling dialogue started to occur. The charged emotions didn’t feel so overwhelming anymore.

A complex series of seated movements associated with the breath and the five centres followed. Was it my imagination or did I just feel my body disappear and a sense of being just pure energy? Connected to everything yet a point in space and time. I recall having had this feeling before; I feel unbelievably serene, trying not to grasp, but wanting to remain here as long as possible.

It took me a while to leave the mediation room after we finished. I wanted to feel connected for as along as possible. Connected to what I ask? Wasn’t it all inside of me already? Had I not just become more aware of it? I reflected as I felt the warmth of the golden rays touch my skin. The sun was low in the sky and soon it will be dinner. Every evening a different sky forms. Another sunset to see. They are simply magnificent here.