Thanks, Rattan – these are awesome!
I’m still working with what I experienced at Mench Mill (and likely will be for some time), but just wanted to say thank you to everyone who was there. I will never forget the radiant love that permeated the retreat from beginning to end, and continues to manifest as stillness since my return home.
It was a joy meeting old friends for the first time, making lots of new ones, and following a bit of a struggle, finding my way back to a place I had been away from for some time. Thank you all for being an inspiration.
Brett (the other tattooed guy) 
Dear WoodDragon, that is so beautiful, thank you for sharing your experience!
And you also, Bewell and others. I can’t tell you how much joy it gives me to read such wonderful reports.
We may, just possibly, be putting together a retreat here in Florida next year.
All my Love to you. xoxo
Thanks Rattan for the pics. 
It was wonderful meeting you Brett (the other tattooed guy ). I have always considered you the guru of retreats so having you with us was very special.
Thanks.
trip 1 (Brett), it was an wonderful pleasure meeting you and sharing the retreat with you. Your presence was a true gift! Thank you!
WoodDragon! What a lovely sharing - thank you. Your presence made this retreat truly special.
This was my second AYP retreat, and of a different flavor, as Kirtanman would say While the last one resulted in tremendous emotional release, this one caused a “settling” of the Silence… Expansion, bliss and heart opening… The power of the collective Silence was awe-inspiring; deep meditation seemed to happen spontaneously in the stillness of the group.
It was incredible for those of us who had met last year to see the growth in each other And bonds forged last year were strengthened while new friendships emerged… For the last few days, I’m overwhelmed with gratitude - to the retreat leaders who are the most magnificent human beings, to everyone for giving so much of yourselves and of course Yogani for making this happen! In many ways, I feel a stronger connection with you all than people I’ve known all my life
Jeff, wish you had stayed longer - your limited presence had an immense impact here; thank you.
Much love to all,
kami
Thank you Shanti & WoodDragon, I greatly enjoyed our time together as well.
Hi my dears,
It’s a week after the retreat, and I think it isn’t too early to write about my experience, as I’ll say something about self-pacing and avoiding of overload.
This is the third ayp retreat here, to me this is probably the best in terms of balance and in the way purification occurs. What I love about this retreat is the “wisdom of housewife.” Imagine a teenager just starts to live alone, and has piles of dishes laid there for days. He uses all the high-end tools, to rub, scratch, even drill off the hard sticky debris on the dishes, with brushes, knives and drills and a lot of force. There are a lot of shrill sounds and even sparks produced in this hard process, even the plates might be marred.
In contrast to this, the experience house wife would soak these dishes in warm water and go to sleep or do some chatting and snacking. After a good amount of time, she came back and uses a cloth to gently sweep these dishes, and lo and behold—the dishes are very easily made clean!
In my personal experience at least, this retreat feels like soaking my being in the warm water of the silence. And in this process, even hard obstructions start to melt just naturally without making much acclaims of fireworks, as we all see in Dave and Josh and many others in the retreat. I, for one, being soaked in this permeating love and silent presence all around, got a taste of real love, that kind of gentle loving feeling toward others without expectations and attachment, or any kind of conditioning. Even though it was just a glimpse, it was so beautiful that it is definitely programmed into my bharkti. And even just a glimpse, I could hardly imagine all much obstructions are loosened and cleared—otherwise, how could the love flow into a mostly clogged pipes into the heart? As evidence of this opening, the whole week after the retreat was filled with a kind of ease in the flow and the witness that is aware of all the process of the flow.
Another result of the gentle soaking process in the retreat is that the effect of it is much easier to manage. Very different from my experience right after the previous two retreats, this week’s practice was stable and daily activities are smooth. No longer bothered by overload.
My gratitude goes to you all—our boss lady, the perfect example of perfect balance; our tattooed master, the most amazing spiritual growth; and our most erudite spiritual dictionary and kirtan leader. And most importantly all the dear souls who were present, offering your very self to share there! Thank you so much for creating together this almost miraculous field of peace and love, and receiving my mischief with humor and loving kindness, making it a perfect kindergarten for me. (special thanks to Kami for making yourself so teasable, otherwise the retreat wouldn’t be nearly as fun#61514;)
What are all the fireworks for, after all, if not to celebrate peace and love?
Pheel the love.
What a wonderful weekend!–WoodDragon has said it quite beautifully. My deepest thanks to all the teachers and my fellow students. Thank you all for being there and sharing so much during our time together.
Here are a few photos of the weekend–including a cartoon I drew from my perspective in the back of the room and one of me trying to levitate Chas (a slackline-assisted siddhi!).
Love to all,
Susan
oops forgot the link
https://picasaweb.google.com/109265799742047284972/AYPPhotos?authuser=0&feat=directlink
Thanks for the pics, Susan. Love the cartoon!
Bliss and Love!
Moderator note: Topic moved for better placement
I wanted to thank the organizers/teachers for once again organizing a really good retreat. I truly enjoyed the silence we all shared thoughout the retreat, something that I am still carrying around! I look forward to more of these, hopefully sooner rather than later
Thank You all for your presence, contributions and sharing.
Jhankhna