Meet in Silent Truth

Dear Ones,

I wish you a wonderful heartfelt Christmas and a very happy and fulfilling New Year. I wanted to express my gratitude to you today. Thank you so much for reading these newsletters for another year. Thank you for supporting me and my little project of healing and self-discovery for all beings. Thank you for being part of this small and caring community. I appreciate you so much - without you, none of this good work we are doing together would be possible. 

I firmly believe and see more and more that the greatest service we can render this world is our own healing, self-knowledge and freedom, so I thank each one of you for doing your part. It’s important. It is hard work, though totally unappreciated in our material results-oriented society. I see you and I thank you.

In this letter you will find an abundance of new year gifts…

• Self-reflection prompts to integrate 2023 with gratitude and invite 2024 with love (as well as my own answers if this can inspire you).

• An invitation to treat yourself and your loved ones to a beautiful “me-time” in 2024 with our Spring yoga, healing and self-discovery retreat in Portugal. Join us and step into your own radiance. 24 hours remain until the end of the 5% Early Bird discount - if you are planning to come, now is the time to book!

• MindRest is restarting in January. The intention is one of deep and unapologetic self-care. January tends to weigh a little on our mental health and our physical wellbeing with its short days, no holidays and colder weather, so this is an invitation to take really good care of yourself and tend to the totality of your physical, mental and emotional vessel.

• I’m opening new slots for 1:1 MiST hypnotherapy and self-discovery sessions with a special offer - refer a friend to a session and receive a session for FREE.

How to send 2023 with gratitude and welcome 2024 with love

The truth is I struggle to connect with all these public holidays and fake calendar turning points. I usually tend to withdraw around this time of the year and avoid the Christmas and New Year fiasco of spending, socializing and depleting my energy. I know - it is not what is expected of me and my conditioning is screaming in the opposite direction. But I don’t care anymore - tending to myself first is how I show up best in the world, so I forgive myself and please forgive me (especially you, mum).

Still, it is a potent time in the wheel of the seasons. With the darkest day just past, the new light has already started seeping in. Yes, it will be dark for some time and yet, behind the scenes of the visible, a change has already quietly taken place at Winter Solstice. A new chapter has just begun.

Over the past few years, it has become a bit of a quiet private ritual for me to honour this time of passage, to reflect on what has gone by and invite what is to come with more awareness of my patterns and limitations.

If you feel inspired to do the same, here are a few self-reflection questions that helped me integrate the lessons of 2023 and start the  new cycle afresh. They are not always easy and joyful (but you know me by this point, easy and joyful ONLY is not what I’m here for).

The 3 most significant events in 2023…

Falling in love & opening to receive it.

Selling my flat in London and closing this chapter of my life.

Going to the US and helping design the Psilocybin Facilitator Training for the Leela School.

3 invaluable life lessons that 2023 taught me…

In truth, nothing is in my hands. My life is not my affair and the more I resist its natural unfolding, the more I suffer. So give up.

When one door closes, it is scary and painful as hell, but many other ones open. Life rewards me for surrendering ever more deeply and taking leaps of faith.

Stop resisting. 

3 precious insights I had about myself in 2023…

I know and feel what is right for me, yet I override it with self-doubt and submission to what is expected of me. In fact, self-doubt is the route of all my suffering and I do have a choice - to fuel it and follow it, or not.

I am powerful but have been conditioned to stay small. To say No and step in my power is an act of love, not aggression.

What I reject in others is what I reject in me and project on them. 

My biggest self-betrayal in 2023 was…

…not trusting my gut. Going to places, doing things and being with people out of guilt and duty, rather than joy and love.

My biggest self-deceit in 2023 was…

…blaming  others for what I do unto myself. 

In 2023, I got closer to being myself by…

…becoming more honest, direct and self-honouring.

In the past year, I am most deeply grateful for…

…the love, friendship and care that I received, here in my little world in Portugal. It has been so nourishing, liberating and expanding to have found a group of people that inspire me deeply and support me unconditionally every day.

3 things that I ignored in 2023 that need my attention in 2024

 My work. My physical health. My biological family.

3 people I need to make amends with and say “I’m sorry. Forgive me. I love you.”

My mum. Myself. Whoever I judged through my own narrow filter of the world (so much more than 3 people, but I’ll start somewhere).

3 changes I want to invite in 2024…

Being my Self more.

Making a home and growing roots with my loved ones.

Letting life lead.

If 2024 is my last year here on Earth, I want to…

Be free, live in love, be fully myself.

In 2024, Life wants me to…

Learn how to receive love, appreciate myself as I am and enjoy the gifts I have been given.

One firm commitment I make to myself in 2024 is…

Tell the truth.

Up to you know. What are your answers? What other good questions could one add to this list?

With Much Love and Care,

Iri

Welcome to Radiant

Our Spring Yoga and Self-Discovery Retreat in Portugal is open for Early Bird booking for another 24h. If you want to join us in April, now is the time to book!

I know…it is too early to think about April. But maybe not? Maybe you can commit to yourself already, maybe you can make a step towards a greater physical and emotional wellbeing in 2024, maybe you are ready to uncover your own power and radiance as the old year is rolling over. Maybe you are ready for YOU.

I welcome you to join me in 2024 for R A D I A N T - our Spring Yoga & Self-Discovery retreat in Portugal Apr 13-20, 2024. As always, it will take place in the most beautiful cocoon Bodhi Bhavan, at the top of the holy Monchique Mountain, with a slightly different focus but same love and care.

The Spring brings an energy of rebirth, renewal, freshness. It’s a time of refilling our cup after the long winter months and planting seeds for a more fulfilled and heart-centred life. It feels like it is time for so many of us to stop living a life of quiet compromise, of average (dis)contentment, of “just getting by”. We are not here to “just get by” - we are here to thrive, to be free, to be radiantly alive. If this resonates, come. It’s your time.

Prices start from £1,040. Enjoy a 5% Early Bird discount by Jan 1.

MindRest: Winter Holding

Every Sunday at 5pm UK starting Jan 7.

In January, at least in the Western world, we are expected to hit the ground running in the new year, with new endless goals at work and in life. Yet, our bodies are often not up for it. January tends to weigh on us, our physical vessels, our mental health, our emotional balance - and it is so natural. As without, so within. Nature is slow, not running anywhere, simply hibernating and preparing for the next cycle. It is no surprise that we long for the same process. We need nourishment and warmth.

I dedicated the January MindRest sessions to self-care, self-love, self-nourishment without any goals or the need to achieve anything. We are allowed to simply take good care of ourselves.

Join us 1h30 of yoga, meditation, self-reflection & yoga nidra every Sunday at 5pm UK

Drop-in: £12, Monthly Pack (4 sessions and their recordings): £40

You do need to register in advance if you plan on coming.

1:1 MiST Sessions - Meet in Silent Truth

New Year offer in January - refer a friend and receive a session for free!

These sessions are a mix of self-inquiry and trauma-informed therapeutic support, but most importantly, they are rooted in silent loving Presence. This simply (but powerfully) means meeting you with a quiet mind and an open heart - being a mirror without agenda, without opinion, without judgement. I have found time and time again that this open meeting has a deeply healing effect and leaves space for you to see your own beautiful reflection. It is the greatest gift I ever received and I am so honoured to extend the invitation to you.

Upcoming Events

With Love and Gratitude,

Iri