In June, I and six others enjoyed a wonderful, week-long holiday with Michal in Stinson Beach, California. This is my attempt to describe what it was like and how it continues to affect me.
On the night before our holiday began, I was up at two in morning finalizing arrangements for my time away from the office. It’s a lot of work to take a vacation. My decision to attend wasn’t easy. Although I was enthusiastic about a week at the beach and the opportunity to work with Michal, I struggled to justify the expense and the time away from my son. It felt indulgent. This amuses me now, because it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.
The central point of our week in Stinson Beach was a white, two-story, four bedroom house with a garden, a pool, and a view of the Pacific Ocean. I was one of the last to arrive. I entered the grounds through a wooden gate, walked along a garden path, and landed in the kitchen. The group was already preparing dinner. I soon felt at home. Many of the faces were already familiar, and the ones that weren’t spoke with voices I quickly recognized from calls with the Inner Group.
As the week began to unfold, we settled in to a simple rhythm. In the morning, we walked together on the beach. In the evening, we ate together and meditated. In between, we did whatever we felt called to do or whatever needed to be done. We shared the cooking and the cleaning-up. We drank a lot of tea and told a lot of stories. We lounged by the pool. We watched the clouds and the humming birds. We hiked. We biked. We shopped for groceries. Small groups formed themselves around particular outings and then dissolved back into the whole. Everyone was welcome. All activities were optional.
This is what we did, but it scarcely captures the feeling of the experience or its effects. The effects continue to ripple through my days in many ways both big and small. I find myself praying more and googling less. I meditate more regularly. I pause before meetings to check-in with my center line. I make better use of the little pockets of time that appear in my day. I have reconnected with old friends. I am often happy for no particular reason and apt to smile at people in the market.
During our walks on the beach, I often saw a group of local teenagers learning to surf. Dressed in wetsuits and smiles, they placed their surfboards side-by-side in the sand. Over and over, they practiced the transition from laying on their stomachs to standing upright. With knees bent and bodies slightly bobbing, they held out their hands, imitating the subtle balance required to surf upon the waves. There is something in this maneuver that speaks to my experience of meditating with Michal. Appreciating what is offered in Michal’s transmission has been, for me, a bit like learning to stand up on a surf board. I hasn’t always come easily or quickly, but through practice and with a unique combination of trust, acceptance, and commitment, I find myself learning more and more about how to move with the waves of energy flowing around me and through me.
At our final meditation, I recalled a dream I’d had years before. In my dream, Michal was ten feet tall. She picked me up, gave me a hug, and went on her way. And this too is what our week in Stinson Beach was like. It was a wonderful encounter in which a larger energy held us. It was Michal, and it was more. It was the sea, the sand, the sun, and the sky. It was the food, the conversations, and the laughter. It was the faces I saw in our meditation circle and God shining through them all. All of this came together during that week to hold us and to invite us to become more.
I arrived hungry in ways I couldn’t name, and I left fed in ways I couldn’t have imagined. I am humbled, inspired, and more grateful than I can say!
Darren Nelson
Lafayette, California