Gwenhwyfar Garden: Compassionate Mental & Spiritual Well Being

For the last few months I have been working on a very exciting website indeed. Click the logo below to be transported to nothing short of a coastal oasis of  nurturing love.

Gwehwyfar Garden is an act of pure kindness so beautiful, that to be part of it in just a small way, is a great privilege.

My dear friends Jenni & Ali Chapter own Gorslwyd Farm and from this wonderful place, they have set up the West Wales Sound Healing Centre, housing one of the only set of interplanetary gongs in Wales.

It is proving to be more and more popular but they were concerned that the very people needing their support, might not be able to afford to come and so they made a radically kind move to open access for all. They have reserved their beautiful Cornflower Holiday Cottage as accommodation for those experiencing crisis with regard to mental and spiritual well being. 

Not only have they reduced the fees to less than half, to make sure anyone who needs to come, can, they have also introduced a number of bursaries every year and the opportunity for folk to exchange their labour and skills on the Farm, in exchange for their keep and therapy.

Each stay includes a daily hour of holistic therapy with Sound Therapist & Soul Mid-Wife, Jenni, your accommodation in the beautiful cottage, access to the labyrinths, the farm animals, secret garden and meditation spaces such as Anjeli Chapel, as well as your self serve breakfast and a hearty home cooked evening meal.

So if you feel that Gwenhwyfar Garden is just what you need, if you are experiencing crisis and think you have nowhere to turn, get in touch with Jenni and Ali. They are just at the end of the phone.

I am reminded of the great Sufi poet, Rumi who says that, 'Your acts of kindness are iridescent wings of divine love, which linger and continue to uplift, long after your sharing.'  - Rumi

The Discourse of Transformation

And so it begins ... today I had my first meeting with Jenni and Ali, a wonderful couple living at Gorslwyd Farm on the Coast near Aberporth, which if you haven't been, you really should, especially Mwnt, but that's another story for another time.

This was our first meeting regarding their new venture. They currently run Gorslwyd Farm as 'Holiday Homes with a Difference' and alongside this have started offering more and more spiritually connected retreats. It is this power that they are now stepping into fully.

Their new direction is based on the key aspects of transformation.We hear this word applied frequently in holistic circles and so the 3 of us really dug beneath the cultural discourse of healing, into what the authentic truth is for Jenni and Ali in terms of their definitions, as well as their living experience of transformation itself. 

Indeed, change is a pathway that they tread almost constantly together as Yin and Yang. Jenni's strong spiritual connections and Ali's groundedness, combining to compliment each other, although for me, their journey is something more than the sum of their 2 hearts ... something additional, that I can't quite put my finger on. To be with Jenni when she is expressing her belief, is almost to witness the receiving of a download from somewhere beyond this realm.

What I love about design briefings like this one is my ability to bring my extensive skills as an ethnographic poet into the business context. It enables me to holistically capture not just the words, thoughts and sentiments of the other but a poetic from the perspective of their heart.

In business, every now and again you come across another like soul and have a deep meeting of minds but today feels like a meeting of kindreds.

I am home now thinking about it and I literally have a glow about me. Do you remember the Ready Brek advert with the child who glowed with orange? (see above)  Well, that is how I feel.

Funny thing is, if I had not lost my hearing and developed tinnitus and  hyperacusis, likely I would not be able to take this work with Jenni and Ali ... I would have been busy elsewhere chasing what I thought the Universe wanted of me rather than being still and having faith that all is well. Food for thought, indeed.

What you seek, is seeking you

One of the most wonderful things about keeping still and quiet at my studio has been the joy of accepting the flow of whatever is to be. 

Growing up, we are taught that if we want something, we have to make it happen but I am learning this just isn't true. 

All the time we spend on making things happen (or thinking that we are) perhaps we miss the wonderful opportunities that would have presented themselves.

Take today as an example. My dear friends Jeni and Ali came to visit me. They were coming to pick up some things that they had bought from Quiet Space. Then they said they wanted to chat to me about their website.

I first met Jeni at a stained glass workshop at Cariad Glass in Llandysul and we hit it off straight away. It was a truly wonderful day and we stayed friends ever since. 

Jeni came to me for Sound Healing in my studio and the vibrations resonated very deeply with her. She decided to train as a Sound Healer herself and this has opened up her heart to stepping into her full power as a healer.

Jeni and her partner Ali have a beautiful farm, and slowly, rather than offering holiday accommodation in their cottages, they have moved towards creating healing / recovery retreats. I have been on one of their retreats myself and it was nothing short of transforming.

Since accepting fully, this wonderful pathway, they feel the desire to transition with their whole hearts, stepping fully into healing.I am so utterly happy for them. I love the Rumi poem with the premise 'What you seek, is seeking you' As if Mother nature is saying, 'Thank Goodness, I put that desire in you and at last you are stepping into it.' I truly feel that Planet Earth is smiling at their decision.

Gorswyld Farm has a a beautiful chapel, wonderful land, labyrinths, it's more like a little rural village than holiday homes ... a very special energy indeed, filled with so much love. Jeni has set up her breathtaking gong studio. You can feel the vibration of the space before you even enter the room.

And what is even more exciting for me is that Jeni and Ali have asked me to work with them to design their new website for this wonderfully holistic venture, so I will get to play a small part in their healing adventure.

If you had asked me this morning, would you like a contract making a website for beautiful people, helping them to realise their dream of offering holistic retreats, to offer wonderful healing to kindred spirits and the planet, I would have fallen off my chair. I was so moved that I just held them both closely and cried.

When my contract finished as Creative Digital Developer for the Storytelling for Health International Conference, where I designed the website for the storytelling projects, www.stories-for-change.weebly.com my friends told me to start advertising to find a new website design contract but I knew it was time to invest in Quiet Space and trusted the Universe to sort out the rest. And she has ... there is such a learning to be had from peaceful stillness.

Learning to Trust the Sacred Self on World Labyrinth Day

You can find out more about Cheryl Beer here

To celebrate World Labyrinth day, friends of mine were holding an event at their wonderful Farm, Gorslwyd, near Aberporth, on the West Wales coastline and kindly invited me along. 

They have 3 beautiful labyrinths on their land and also Jenni is a Qualified Sound Therapist, so she offered a wonderful Gong Bath .

I took off my shoes and socks to feel more connected to the earth and before entering, set an intention to trust inner self with regard to a new business venture that I have been working on since January, that although I totally believe in,  I constantly seek affirmation as it transforms, from my partner, when I know the affirmation I need is from within me.

'Labyrinth, I set an intention to learn self trust.'

I walked with my head up in the knowledge that every step took me further to the middle. No need to watch my feet, instead I saw the wonderful Llama who had come over by this point to see what on earth the humans were up to. 

I looked to the blue sky and the trees, listened to the seagulls flying above and the pigs snorting in the pen opposite  ... but then I noticed the rest of the group were reaching the middle before me.

Ali, who lovingly built the labyrinth for Jenni, was passing me in the opposite direction and she smiled. I simply couldn't stop myself,

'Am I going the right way?' I asked. She nodded.

And then I smiled too because even in a labyrinth my self doubt runs so deeply that I had to ask the person who made it, if I was going the right way.

I couldn't possibly have been going the wrong way. It made me chuckle at myself and I smiled at the Universe for teaching me this lesson and showing me very clearly that once committed to my goals, all I need to do is trust each footstep that I choose.

When we had all arrived at the labyrinth centre, Jenni connected us to the ancients.

I could hear the Universal Mantra, calling all spiritual teachers and leaders to bring peace to the world, singing in my head. When we opened our eyes, we all held hands and I asked if I might chant the mantra for the group. They welcomed this addition so, I closed my eyes and sang the Universal Guru Mantra.

This was a big thing for me. Since my hearing loss, tinnitus and hyperacusis I have avoided chanting or singing outside of my own practice because I can only manage to sing very quietly before my voice distorts in my head. 

The wind carried my voice and I sang as if I were chanting just for the sunshine beaming into my face. It felt so beautiful inside, I could have cried. How I have missed chanting for and with others.

I kept my eyes closed and waited until I could feel everyone had made their way back. Then, I set another intention ...

'When I open my eyes the first thing I see will be a message.'

I opened my eyes and there right in front of me, a robin. Given that it was a beautiful sunny May afternoon, we don't usually associate robins with this time of year, so I was surprised. I watched him sit in the tree and then fly off.

The spiritual significance of being visited by a robin, according to www.spirit-animals.com is the stimulation of new growth and renewal in many areas of life, that changes are made with joy and laughter, with a song in the heart. Being shown how to ride with winds of passion within the heart and become independent and self reliant through this change. The energy of Robin teaches how to move forward with grace, tenacity, perseverance and assertion.

Well, could that really be any more relevant in answer to my intention for self trust, set before entering the labyrinth?

As I left the first labyrinth to go to the second two in the other field, Jenni took me to one side and asked if I would lead a kirtan. 

Now, before my hearing loss, I would have had no hesitation, but I declined, saying that I couldn't because I would need people to sing quietly and that's not fair for me to ask of them. I felt that I might compromise their kirtan experience through my own needs, which seemed selfish.

We went over to the other labyrinths. I started at the heart labyrinth and with bare feet walked on the pebble shingle mindfully and then moved onto the grass labyrinth which just made my heart sing in every part. 

There was something mesmerising about the natural synergy between ancient, sacred geometry and the earth. 

As I walked these words circulated in my soul,

I am daisy

I am buttercup

I am blade of grass

I am labyrinth

I am Earth

I am the Universe 

By this time, I was floating. We sat on the bench before going in for handmade banana cake that Jenni had lovingly made for us and herbal tea. 

Ali said how she would have liked to learn the Universal Guru Mantra and I thought that actually, it was selfish of me NOT to share it just because of my needs and to trust ...  so I took a big breath and told the group what had been happening for me and if they didn't mind us chanting quietly, I would love to teach them the mantra. They didn't mind one bit. In fact the quietness made it feel more sacred.

I sang each line and they repeated quietly. Afterwards, I chanted a prayer to Ganesha which is a mantra to clear blockages and obstacles.

The group were so lovely, saying wonderful things about the mantra and my voice. I never thought I would be able to touch people in this way again ... and this time I was moved to tears and explained to them that this was the first time that I had held space in this way since losing my hearing, and how my heart was so happy to have done it.

We all hugged and I had to leave before the Sound Bath that Jenni was kindly sharing. She showed me her gong room. 

Oh my days. The energy literally came rushing to the door to greet me. I have never quite felt anything like it. 

I wished I could stay, but the gongs for sure, would be too much for my hyperacusis so instead of leaving, I went and sat in one of the summer houses and imagined I was in the room with everyone. By being on the land, I felt that I was still connected to the group energy.

And now, reflecting on the afternoon, little wonder such deep and magical things would manifest when one trusts ones intentions to the labyrinth.

Here's a link to Jenni and Ali's Farm: -

www.gorslwyd.co.uk  be sure to connect with them if you would like to visit and walk their labyrinths throughout the year.