If you’re wondering what your group will experience when they arrive, David Hedley put it better than we ever could.
A senior occupational therapist, he wrote this as he left a retreat at Sine Cera. It’s the best guest experience feedback we’ve received, shared here with his permission.
We had landed.
After a final 5kms of off-road bumpiness, the senses are swollen and awakened.
If you had the privilege of having a wee nap on your way, your eyes are born to a silhouette of light that unevenly cascades between and through the dense yet sheltering bush that hugs you on arrival.
Sunbirds surround you in abundance, pecking for snacks on the roadside whilst simultaneously weaving themselves through long grass and perching on the farmland fences and the draping trees that hug the off roadside.
The road leading into Sine Cera acts as a wormhole, a passageway to leave what was behind, and step on board a moment which is neither here nor there but is now.
A curious nose can sense a crisp fulfilling purity in the air as wandering feet take their first steps through veil of the forest as your approach Sine Cera.
An invitation from nature that will catch your breath and change you forever.
Palm trees can be seen circling and waving with a solemn breeze that spirals anonymously to greet you, to warm you, to welcome you.
Wherever you were before now is distant, there is space here to cultivate, create and expand beyond limits you once knew.
We were here.
A creek can be heard shuffling its way downstream, a constant yet paradoxical soundtrack that bathes you on your stay immersing with birdsong, leaf dances and undulating little white water rapid parties.
As your senses rise to meet the oncoming waves of Sine Cera’s powerful presence, you are invited to wander, your soul has caught up, and you can explore with an embodied state of harmony with your surroundings.
There is nowhere to be, there is nowhere else to be, no other place and no other thought.
As you wander, moments of stillness begin to guide you, colors, sounds and animals capture a relieved mind’s attention – no longer busy doing – being is new doing.
A morning coffee can be enjoyed whilst harmonising to the sounds around you, dense warm smells surround you and slip through your nostrils opening space to contemplate all that is.
The creek awaits you, a cold, refreshing and sobering plunge will be sure cleanse your soul as you find a nice big rock to perch, bathe or soak on.
An opportunity to play with movement in the expansive Yoga space that towers alongside the trees overlooking the vast forest beneath as you embody all that moves within you and around you.
A place to arrive in the depths of your body, finding solace, peace and reconnection with your own elemental experience.
As the day meanders along you can find yourself in moments of sharing in a kitchen with nurturing food or find solace on a lonesome walk as you shift between gazing around you and opening spaces and thought doors within you which are now unlocked.
The day and light fall as the veil of night cloaks, you are treated to a stunning high-definition milky way, seen and unseen stars, constellation and planets are gifted whilst a warm fire gently crisps, crackles and grapples with tired old wood.
A song, a laugh or a story is best served here before you birth your dreams in the cozy cabins adjacent.
Sine Cera is an intersection between worlds, a sanctuary for growth.
In his poem Postscript, Seamus Heaney reminds us of those times when ‘you are neither here nor there, a hurry through which known and strange things pass.’
Sine Cera offers a remedy to that hurry. It is an invitation to cultivate a much-needed space between our fast-paced, habitual routine and the deeper world walking alongside us – waiting to be brought sharply into focus.
Written by
David Hedley
Senior Occupational Therapist
Written when leaving a Retreat at Sine Cera and is our best ever guest experience feedback.
We truly appreciate the wonderful writing and effort taken and the author’s permission to publish.
From our entire team at Sine Cera and Dharma Care we can’t thank you enough. Come back soon !
Download the original feedback document David shared.
