Our summer issue is out now! The theme is Relationship. Damian Brady, David Brocklebank, Mariana Saad, and Mike Wride share what Relationship means to them— Dive on in!
Spirituality & The City
Relationship
Damian Brady
A healthy relationship is a bond and an unspoken agreement of energy exchange. An exchange that is beneficial to both people, something that leaves us feeling fulfilled emotionally, spiritually, intellectually and physically (if it is a romantic relationship). It should be a place of trust, safety and sometimes an escape from the world. It should also be a point of reference for our own personal development, with the other person being trusted to give honest feedback if they feel we are going off the path to reaching our potential. In essence, a healthy relationship is a growth mechanism. If done right, it is soul nourishment.
David Brocklebank
A really good supportive romantic relationship is one of the gems in life. Not easy to find. When younger, we are often drawn to a particular partner as a result of our conditioning.
The best way to break free of these patterns, break free of our conditioning or samskaras, is to become aware of what is driving us… what is influencing us.
The two most transformative practices I have come across in my life are yoga and meditation.
The complete 8 limbs of yoga can lead us to deeper states of freedom. To develop love and deepen our relationship with our inner self, with othersand the environment.
A number of people who have been to the Burren Yoga Retreat have related that as they begin to get more in touch with themselves and develop more love and acceptance for themselves, they have attracted in the right person to their lives.
Mariana Saad
Relationships are a big part of my practice as an astrologer. Healthy relationships are a path of soul growth. A meaningful relationship allows me to touch the highest part of myself.
Born under the Libra Full Moon, relating has been for me a space in which I can heal, transform and resurrect. An intimate relationship with another helps me navigate a world that is becoming more and more soulless. A loving connection is reaching the sacred in the everyday. I find that every time I relate to another through love, I open up a space of vulnerability and healing to myself and to the other.
Romantic relationships trigger us, make us face our shadow and unprocessed, unconscious wounds and blind spots. We die many times in order to be reborn new. What people call magic or chemistry, I see it as two beings recognising in each other soul nourishment. A relationship for me is a mystical union, connecting me to the spiritual part of myself and the spiritual part of the other. By union, I don’t necessarily mean societal commitment, for, in my opinion, love is free. It’s more of a deep physical and emotional bond, almost karmic, helping our soul find its way home to Source. I’ll end with a quote from a mystic from my homeland: “Love one another, but make not a bond of love: let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.” Khalil Gibran
Mike Wride
In my work as an educational developer, I am passionate about relationships in the classroom. Gone are the days of didactic modes of teaching. Teaching should be more about facilitation than the teacher being the ‘sage on the stage’ filling the ‘empty vessels’ of the students with knowledge only to be regurgitated later for the exam. Relationships in the classroom must be developed between the teacher and the students, between the students and with the subject material being learned. It is all about a classroom ecosystem where students and teachers are working together to learn and co-create. Collaboration and connections can be created through relationships. We can empathise with each other, put ourselves in each other’s shoes and see things from different perspectives as part of a learning community. Relationships in the classroom allow for true learning and transformation to occur – within the creative, critical and contemplative space of the possibilities between us.
