STROUD

HANUMAN CELEBRATIONS

One-Day Retreat

with Uma Dinsmore-Tuli & Sivani Mata Francis

Welcome to this one-day retreat held in the beautiful Mahavidya Temple nestled in the Heavens Valley, Stroud; and celebrating the powerful energy of Hanumān, the monkey-man who inspires faith in the impossible.

Hanumān is most famed for his role in the ancient epic, the Rāmāyaṇa, in which he supports Prince Rāma to rescue his beloved Sītā from the ten-headed demon-King Rāvaṇa. It is Hanumān who finds the captured princess and brings the information of her location to Rāma. The stories of Hanumān tell us he was born son of the wind, and some understand his role in the Rāmāyaṇa as key to understand how praṇa (‘wind’, the life-force energy) can be sent on the breath to find blockages and stagnation within our own bodies and support in the release.

One tale of Hanumān says that when he was very young he jumped into the sky to try and capture the sun, thinking it was a mango. Indra, the sky-God, hurled a lightening bolt at Hanumān in attempt to protect the sun from coming to any harm. Hanumān’s chin was broken and his father (Vāyu) removed all the air from the world in his despair. Breathless and withering, the Gods tried to pacify Vāyu, desperate for him to restore the air to creation. They bestowed upon Hanumān all manner of special abilities, such as to change size at will, to have the strength of a diamond and radiant intellect. They also gifted him with forgetfulness so that he would not remember his gifts. This beautiful story reminds us that we too have the capacity for so much more than we remember, just a little courage and faith and anything is possible.

Throughout our day together we will weave the chanting of the 40-verse prayer, the Hanumān Chālīsā, with yoga nidrā (a profound relaxation technique that offers deep restoration on every level of being) and other intuitive healing arts for vitality and wellbeing; thereby tapping into the inspiration of Hanumān and remembering our power. This is not just a retreat day, this is a multi-dimensional nurturing of embodied wisdom. Re-awaken your intuition and reclaim your vitality. Reconnect to the wellspring of deep intuitive knowing. Welcome wholeness and cyclical wisdom.

buddhihīna tanu jānike
sumiraũ pavana kumāra
bala buddhi vidyā dehu mohĩ
harahu kaleśha bikāra

Kowing myself to be ignorant I remember you, Son of the Wind.
Give me strength, wisdom and intelligence, and remove my impurities and sorrows.

[extract Hanumān Chālīsā from the Dohā (Invocation) by Tulasīdās]

All are welcome to join us for the celebratory day.

Photo thanks to Leticia Valverdes