House of Light Director, Adrian Wynter, was a recent guest at the Mandali Retreat Centre in Northern Italy, just an hour from Milan, overlooking the stunning Lake Orta.
As a certified Learning Love therapist and teacher, he was invited to be part of the annual Learning Love skills training with his favourite teachers, Krishnananda and Amana, from Learning Love Institute.
We caught up with Adrian to find out more about his time there in July.
What attracted you to the Mandali Centre?
My first experience of Mandali was through their website. It looked incredible. Immediately, I was interested and excited to be going there. Colleagues told me who was teaching there, which deepened the feeling for the quality of work on offer. For example, some of my favourite teachers, in addition to Krish and Amana, are holding their retreats there. On arrival, I was blown away by the whole place. It is brilliantly designed and beautifully constructed. The setting takes your breath away. It is humbling to see how much has gone into creating this place, a real gift for those who experience it.
What kind of personal work are you focused on at the moment?
The never ending quest to know myself, to know what makes me tick and why. How I am, in relationship to myself and others is where I learn. So, I take the lessons and tools learnt on retreats and bring them to my daily life. Now is a particularly inspiring time as my wife, Ceri, and I have two very young daughters, Alma and Zofi. To consciously parent is a very deep journey indeed. It requires me to stay open to what I feel and to be prepared at any moment to face reminders of my childhood, not all of which are comfortable.
What were your key learnings from your time in Italy?
That we, at House of Light, are not alone in our passion to create and hold space for personal growth work.
That I have ‘stuff’ to resolve around my maternal Grandfather.
That I have deeply loving support from the Learning Love family, as I set out to teach and share this model.
Tell us about the centre?
The main meeting halls are in a building that, if viewed from above, is a mandala, complete with four doorways and four pathways in the four directions. In the ground-floor hall there is a glass disc within the wooden floor, revealing a spiral of precious stones and gems coming up from the centre of the earth. The accommodation is built to resemble an old Italian village with cobbled streets and bell tower. Then there is the body wellness centre; sauna, steam room and a beautifully crafted pool leading, through a glass wall, to a large out door jacuzzi with views across the tree-clad mountains and the large lake below. It has all been built to top spec and works beautifully. The team running the place are also professional, friendly and super competent.
Why is a retreat environment so important? How do you create such a special environment at House of Light?
It could argued that spiritual and personal growth work can be done anywhere and in any environment; that discomfort can even be a catalyst for growth. However, my experience is that being in a well-held and comfortable space, when on retreat, allows me to drop in deeper, more quickly, into my own experience of life and find where the work is to be done.
Our idea at House of Light was to build something of such beauty as to inspire people when they arrive, to encourage them to open up. Then to hold the space, through comfortable surroundings, healthy delicious food and sympathetic staff, so that participants feel safe to explore their more vulnerable feelings if needs be. In day to day life most of us live in our protection strategies, for good reason, but deep, transformational healing often comes when we can let the protection down for a time and re connect with feelings that we perhaps were not allowed to feel or were simply to difficult to face earlier in our lives. House of Light is designed to be a place where one can feel safe to be with those feelings and see what they are for us.
How can retreat attendees ensure they integrate and best benefit from time on retreat?
Of course, we let group leaders decide what they require from their participants. However, it is great if people can organise for their time on retreat to be just that. We encourage people to leave the outside world to itself as much as possible. Ideally, this means keeping phone contact and going online to a minimum. Also alcohol and other substances can be a distraction from the work.
Depending on the nature of the ‘work’, it is often advisable to give yourself time afterwards. Before diving back into a hectic schedule, allow time and space for the experience to integrate and settle.
Do you have plans for more similar work on yourself in the future? What will the focus be?
Most definitely. I will being doing more work with Learning Love Institute and am co-leading a group here in October. From time to time I do have one-to-one sessions this will continue. I have also recently started ‘A Band of Brothers’ group. This is a mens group working on focusing on the mature masculine. The eventual goal is around becoming healthy role models and mentors for young men, who are in need of support as they transition from boys into men.
We’re always keen to hear from leaders and teachers offering transformational work.
Please contact House of Light for further information on our centre, facilities, the type of work we do here or if you would like to come and visit.
Leave A Comment