Thumbs Up for Sahaja 2015!

Yes Yes Yes – You have been asking for this blog. Sahaja 2015 – What an Amazing Clinic!

Dear all,

The clinic is over for this time. We feel so satisfied!

It must have been one of the best clinics ever. We studied the waterhole rituals, rode at liberty down the beach, bathed in the river, hiked the volcano, wrapped ourselves into the forest garden, listened to the parrots, sipped to smoothies at sunset and learnt how to communicate with horses.

Thank you all for coming and participating. Thank you to my beautiful herd; Jack, Spirit, Elena, Moonlight and Magic. Thank you St. Vincent and the Grenadines for offering such a beautiful classroom for the clinic.

Enjoy some feedback and photos.

Kind regards Stina

Here is what Catherine writes;

“I watched and experienced some of Stina’s thoughts on interacting with horses. It was a lesson in building relationships were trust, respect and caring are keys to understanding, to a communication that makes anything possible. A communication without struggle, without use of force. It was a lesson in awareness of both mine and the horse’s body language, it was a lesson for life.”

Thank you Catherine!

Elizabeth: “Thank you Stina for a lovely time. Your location is truly remarkable and the work you are doing on the farm and with the horses is amazing”

Thank you Elizabeth!

Jonna: “The nature in St Vincent must be one of the world’s most beautiful ones. Always growing and always green. It amazes people who sees it from the sky or from the ocean and does something to you to be a part of it. On the nature weekend some of us had the opportunity to walk the Parrot trail, a 1½ hours walk in the eye of the jungle.

Just by going up in the car through the valley towards the start of the trail kept us quiet and amazed. The start of the trail was on a wide road. Along the road there was a goat with her two baby goats drinking milk from her and making all of us melt by their cuteness. I keep getting impressed of what animals do to people’s feelings. Walking further ahead we heard the parrots making their sounds. Since I was little I have hated to see animals in cage, and especially birds. Birds have wings for a reason; I think the worst we can do to a bird is to lock it in so it is unable to use the function that represents them as a bird. Even worst is that it is animal lovers who do this to them. It was really touching to see them fly there free in the sky over the jungle where they live instead of in a cage that is mostly how I have seen parrots before.

However, the real adventure began when we find what used to be a trail but was now more of just bush. The path was slippery so we had to be careful. Many times I used to hold on to plants where I knew there was a big chance to slip, and it felt like these plants were there just for that purpose. I was observing nature a lot along the way and it made me think again about how connected everything really is. That everything is connected to everything. When I see nature I see art, nature itself is art and I think because of nature, art exists. Imagine that everything comes from nature, colors, shapes and animals for example. Some plants look like the claw of a crab, some look like pineapple, some like somebody’s hair… I think all shapes and colors we have, has its origin in nature. That’s why I respect nature very much.

I also thought a lot about how alive nature is and especially in this island. If somethings dies- a tree or a plant, something else just starts growing on top of it. There is so much life on a rotten tree in the jungle of St Vincent! Not only that, many things also grows on top of each other, layers and layers like it is never enough with the beauty it already has. It has an amazing biodiversity that really creates art everywhere you turn your head. It is an honor for us to visit this wild
kept nature that is the true treasure which we all have our origin from and that has has created everything we are, can see and touch. Thank you nature!”

Thank you Jonna!

Kristine: “I had another chance to come back to this beautiful island called St.Vincent and participate in Sahaja clinic. I am always happy to come back here as this wild and untouched place changed my life forever in 2011 and since then I just keep coming back 🙂 This clinic was one of the most unique clinics I have ever been to. I had a chance to go on a parrot trail and see those beautiful birds so close. I have a special place in my heart for birds as they represent freedom which for me is so important. Just seeing them flying around so free and careless reminded me that is supposed to be fun and peaceful not one of the struggle.

We went on a horse trail walk and brought along some students who wanted to know more about horses. I am always happy to share with others my knowledge about horses and their behavior and that there is another way-more gentle-how to work and be with them. We finished our walk with horses along the beach and with Jonna riding on Jack. And I can tell you one thing that it felt so magical and peaceful. Horses were happy and relaxed, there was no rush or agenda and we all seemed to just be in the moment and enjoy the surroundings. And then there was volcano hike I had been waiting for so long because I wanted to go into crater so much.

The path up to the volcano is challenging but at the end it was all worth it. I had a chance to join other students on this trip and it gave me a chance to get to know them better. Hiking up there in my opinion is not about who reaches the finish line first but about who reaches out that hand to you when the road gets slippery and you trip and who tells you “YOU CAN DO IT” when you feel like giving up. During this stay in school I met most amazing group of people who do such an amazing job to keep this planet clean and who care about what happens to this world we live in!!!! And there is so much more we did during the clinic-walkin horses through fruit garden, feeding horses and pigs with moringa trees, snorkeling(it took my breath away when I saw all this diversity of fish down at the corral riffs) and many, many more things 🙂
Thank you Stina for this amazing opportunity and I hope to come back soon again!!!”