Gifts

One of the challenges of this journey was the receiving of gifts.  Having learned as a child that giving presents is 'better' than receiving and wanting to be good and kind I developed a preference for giving over receiving.  Indeed I often feel embarrassed or awkward about receiving - sometimes feeling unworthy of the gift or uncertain what is expected of me in return.  And I always feel that I must give SOMETHING in return!

So this journey began with my first challenge to that: the whole journey was a gift paid for by the generosity of the supporters of my fundraising campaign.  This blog is my way to offer something in return!

Then the flights out to Almaty happened to be on my birthday and I was given gifts by the flight crews.  These I simply had to receive as there was no way of giving in return!

I had taken a present for Svetlana, the Reiki master I stayed with in Almaty, to honour the gift of being able to stay in a local person's home and being met at the airport at 2 am.  I was therefore surprised when she gave me some gifts at the end of my stay.  However I saw that it would be rude to refuse, so accepted them with gratitude.  One of these gifts was a beautiful pair of embroidered felt slippers with toes that turn up.  I learned that this is supposed to be so that when you walk on the grass you don't harm it.  The other gift was a model yurt also made of felt which even has the bed and table inside.  Although many people now live in houses in towns and cities many of them still have yurts where they spend the summer - we saw some on our day out to the lake.

During the retreat several people came up to me with various gifts which it was clear it gave them great pleasure to give. 

I learned more about this aspect of Kazakh culture of when one afternoon I admired the Kazakh embroidered coat a fellow participant was wearing. "If it fits you, it's yours" she responded and insisted I take off the jacket I was wearing to try it on. It fitted! I protested that I couldn't accept such a generous gift, but she insisted, telling me that it was a tradition in their culture that when a guest comes to stay in your yurt you would give them a gift of a sheep or goat or one of these coats!  At a fundamental level this is to sustain life, I realised.  So I accepted and show my gratitude by wearing it.  I know that it gave her as much joy to give it as it does me to wear it!  

I also received gifts from people from other countries in the region who were at the retreat; it seems this tradition of honouring guests with gifts is widespread in the former Soviet Union countries.   

I think one of my other favourite gifts was a carrier bag that contained 2 boxes of Kazakh tea, two packets of toasted sunflower seeds and a packet of sunflower seed halva.  I loved this gift because it was what was available at the local supermarket - and also something I have been able to share with others on my return home when I made Kazakh tea for some of my students at a workshop.  

I had taken some things to give as gifts too and enjoyed giving them.  They were only very small things - such as some of my postcards, lavendar bags and a tea spoon rest with a robin on it and so on - but seemed to bring pleasure to those who received them.

The other gift I took to share of course (as well as the Reiki) was the songs, which I think brought joy to the whole group.

Overall I feel I received far more than I gave, but that's OK.

Daily Docent Meetings

Each day at around 4pm the docents met with Phyllis to plan the next steps for the group.  Phyllis and Paul had a number of questions they wanted input about but the docent group were also asked for input and on the first day the participants had also been asked to contribute to what issues they wanted to discuss.  They had also been asked to indicate which of the topics we had already decided on they were most interested in.

Every docent meeting was interesting and involving.  We had translation because over half the group were Russian speaking.  We therefore sometimes had input from the interpreters as well.  Every opinion was listened to and held as a valuable contribution to the whole - even when we didn't agree.  Out of these discussions would come a decision about what to do next: what question to put to the group and how it would be discussed.  Some questions were discussed by the whole group, some in small groups.  Sometimes the results of these discussions were reported, sometimes we just asked the question 'so what did you learn?' and listened to the responses.

The docent group also decided about other aspects of the programme, such as whether to include singing, when to take some time off and how to open and close each day.

We were always made comfortable with snacks and tea, but it was clear we were there to 'work' not socialize!  However through our discussions I felt a strong bond with everyone else.

In preparing the questions for the group to consider we often had far ranging discussions.  One of the things I most appreciated was that in spite of our diverse backgrounds and cultures we shared common understanding about Reiki practice.  Much of this came from the fact that we shared Usui Shiki Ryoho as our form of practice and in particular had all benefited from the teachings of the OGM - our lineage bearer Phyllis and head of discipline Paul.

One afternoon a chance comment led to the telling of a wonderful story.  The background to it is this: on our first evening we had visited a market where there was a cheese stall.  Looking for an easy to carry protein snack for the days ahead I had noticed some 'cheese balls' - small round pieces of cheese shaped like a marble - and had been given one to taste.  It was nice, but very salty so I asked if she had any that were less salty.  She showed me some larger cheese balls - about the size of a golf ball - which she told me had been carried by the Kazakh soldiers when traveling and were very good for bone strength!  So I bought some.

When I came to try one a few days later I discovered they are so hard I could not bite them!  No wonder they made people's bones strong!

So in one of the docent meetings I mentioned that they were too hard to eat and I didn't know what to do with them.  Phyllis commented that that is why it's a good idea to try before  you buy!

However one of the docents who is from Almaty then went on to tell this wonderful story:

During the second world war some German prisoners were held in camps near Almaty.  They were not properly fed and were starving.  One day some local people came to the camp and started throwing stones through the fence at them.  Only they weren't stones: one of the prisoners discovered that they were in fact some of these cheese balls!  Apparently there is a poem written bu one of the survivors thanking the local people for their kindness which saved the lives of several of the German prisoners - all thanks to the cheeses that look like stones (and are as hard!).

I still didn't know how to eat them as I was told that people would just put them in their mouth and let them dissolve slowly - but they were too big for my mouth!  I decided to take them home, where perhaps I could grate them or find some way to re-hydrate them!  But if I hadn't mentioned this problem I would never have heard the wonderful story about the kindness of the local people to the German prisoners.

Daily Reiki

Our days were very full during the retreat, starting at 7.30 am and going through to 9.30 pm (and on one evening 10 pm), with a long break in the middle of the day.  As a docent this break was not as long, because we had a meeting at 4 pm each afternoon to discuss what the next question for the group should be.

One thing that kept me going through this was the daily Reiki treatments.  These took place between 12 noon and 2 pm, after which lunch was served.  We shared Reiki in groups of four,

Some of the lovely people I shared Reiki with

each receiving twenty minutes Reiki (equivalent therefore to an hour of Reiki).  What you may find surprising is that as there were not enough Reiki tables, we used desks!  Each was covered with a blanket and sheet, with a pillow and fleece blanket.  Amazingly there were just long enough to lie on and I found them surprisingly comfortable to lie on.  What was less comfortable was when giving Reiki to the head positions it was not possible to get my knees under the desk, so I had to sit with my knees jammed up against the end of the desk and lean forwards, sit sideways or have my knees either side of the edge of the desk, none of which were particularly comfortable (especially as I have quite short arms).  However with the grace of Reiki to support me I found that I did manage each treatment without too much discomfort.  When it was my turn to treat the body positions I was either able to get my knees under the desk or to stand, making it much easier to reach.


I think I fell asleep in all the treatments I received!  It didn't matter that it was the middle of the day, or 7 am UK time.  The treatments were all wonderful, with the practitioners being really good at being still and staying focused on the person being treated.  We were asked to arrange our groups of four before coming to the room to start the share and I don't think I ever had to look for others to work with because I was asked to join several groups over the days.  I enjoyed sharing Reiki with people if different nationalities and cultures, recognizing that we have the culture of Reiki in common.  I loved the way we could understand each other on a human level and share Reiki even though we could not understand each other's language.  I didn't feel at all in an alien culture, because the Reiki culture is so familiar to me and I found it to be the same even in Kazakhstan!

During the treatments (if I was awake!) my mind would often be working on the question we were currently discussing.  I believe this was also true for other members of the group, whether that 'work' was going on consciously or unconsciously.  For example I spent most of one treatment session thinking about our British culture in the context of Japanese culture and Reiki. 

So the daily treatments were an important part of the retreat and I missed them when I came home.

A day of Challenges

Due to the need to include Paul Mitchell in as much of the discussions as possible even though he was in the USA and joining us via video link, the first session for the next day was scheduled for 7.30 am.  It had been suggested that after the opening ceremony I start the day with some

This is the programme, with Paul and Phyllis pictured

singing, this time with more movement and the addition of drumming.

I like to ensure I'm prepared for leading singing sessions, so this meant being up early so that I could be awake and alert by the time I needed to start.  This being the first time I'd ever led such a big group or done so at what my body was telling me was 3 am it was something of a challenge!

So I was up at 6.30 am Almaty time, just after dawn.  The view of the mountains was crystal clear that morning and I took deep breaths of the fresh air as the pink colours of dawn faded from the sky.  After a small snack to get me going I did some stretches and went over the plan for the morning's session in my head. As I'd been asked to add more movement I decided to do more of a physical and vocal warm up before we started singing.  Then I also planned two songs to share.  My room mate commented that it was very early!

I had learned that there were snow leopards up in those mountains, so took this as my inspiration for the movement warm ups.  I found the group very willing to try anything I suggested and we were soon having fun - a good preparation for singing.  We sang the song we had sung the previous day - Belle Mamma, this time with the accompaniment of a drum.  It gave extra energy to the singing and helped everyone stay in rhythm for the round.  I then taught a second African round - Senwa Dedende - and once again the group was soon singing enthusiastically in 3 parts.  I felt they could sing faster so the drummer Boris and I gave each other looks to agree on speeding up a few times.  It was great fun and certainly seemed to wake everyone up.

I was particularly touched to see Paul singing along in the USA!

The main topic for discussion on this day was Reiki and money.  Our first question was about what our culture teaches us about money.  It was at this point someone asked what did we actually mean by culture.  I then heard Phyllis' voice: "Give the microphone to Kate".  I was handed the mike.  "Define culture" she said to me.

So there I stood in front of this big group, trying to think how to define culture!  I did what I am now used to doing: waited for the answer to come from some place other than my head!  When I started speaking the words seemed to flow and the result was satisfactory.  Not perfect by any means, but I think it served the purpose!  So another challenging moment!

To be fair to Phyllis she said later that she thought she had seen me raise my hand when the question about culture came up and given that she has experience of be being the person to ask about definitions in our work together on the RFI Executive Director group she had good reason for asking me.  It was just a bit of a surprise in the moment and put me on the spot!

The OGM Retreat Begins

Svetlana needed to be at the hotel early to deal with various organizational issues, so it meant another early start and there was no time for breakfast.  She had, however, managed to arrange for me to check in early so that I could have breakfast at the hotel and some time to settle in before everything began.  I was very grateful for this as I was tired after another short night.

I was supposed to be meeting Juergen, one of the other docents, to organise some flip charts for the people to put ideas on as they registered. This needed to be done before breakfast.  I was delighted to discover that my room had a bath, so took a quick dip before the meeting, which helped me feel a bit better.  I then met up with Juergen and Anji who helped us translate the words we needed to put onto the flip charts into Russian.  Due to taking the bath I was late, so they had already more or less decided on the words, although they needed my input as an English speaker (Jueren is German).

We then helped to preapare the room, deciding to arrange the chairs in 3 concentric circles. In
the centre was a table with the photographs of the Spiritual Lineage, with candles and flowers.  Phyllis also set up her computer and a projector, so that Paul Mitchell could join us via virtual link.  

Then it was time for breakfast!  I was curious to see what would be on offer.  My breakfasts with Svetlana had been delightful: a fried egg, goats cheese that she had made, ham, rye bread, fresh tomatoes and one morning fried onions, mushrooms and aubergine.  At the hotel there was a similar range of foods: breads, sausage, omelette, salad, cooked vegetables, porridge made with buckwheat and chips!  This made it easy to keep to the diet I've worked out to keep my blood sugar balanced.

After breakfast our first session, which I'd been asked to start after the opening ceremony with a song.  I chose one I've taught many times that has simple words and a relevant meaning: Belle Mama.  I means beautiful Earth.  I was delighted by how willing to sing the group were - it made my job much easier.  This was the first time I'd led such a big group and I was also wearing a radio mike headset which I'm not used to. 

We then began the discussions, Phyllis explaining to us that for these days were were to be a part of the OGM circle, helping Phyllis and Paul to explore the Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki System further, to help answer some of the questions they have.  This was the biggest OGM Retreat so far - previously there were between 35 and 75 participants.  This time it was around 125.  Two of the docents gave a history of the previous OGM Retreats and how the role of docent began at the second retreat when Phyllis and Paul realised that they didn't want to facilitate the retreat, so asked a few experienced Reiki masters to assist.

One of the aspects I was very touched by in this first day of the retreat was learning that Kazakhstan is possibly the most pluralistic community in the world: there are 120 nationalities who live together harmoniously.  Reiki has also brought together people of differing ages, nationalities and cultures.  This reflects how Reiki offers us the possibility to go beyond our feelings of 'am I good enough' and 'am I safe' to recognizing our common humanity.  I first experienced this when I studied theatre in Paris with people from 26 nationalities, where although we didn't share the same culture, we discovered there were things we communicated through movement, tone of voice and way of being that transcended language and were commonly shared in our humanity.  In Reiki we also have the possibility of touching our essential humanity, enabling us to discover who we really are and bring our unique gifts to the world in a way that serves others.

Docent Preparations

I was relieved that the first meeting of the docents which had originally been scheduled for 7.30am was deferred to 9am, so I was able to catch up a bit on sleep.

Being a docent means being part of a team that would be facilitating and holding the energy for the group. At previous OGM retreats there were a maximum of 75 pparticipants - 50 was more usual. We anticipated about 130 at this one! As a result the docent group was larger and had a bigger job to do!

So at 9am 8 of us met with Phyllis to make plans.  We had already had a couple of online meetings (one of which I missed due to the Ludlow Reiki Share) at which there had been some discussion of the themes to be addressed. 

I enjoyed meeting the rest of the group in person.  In my teens I spent time with an international group who were working together in a voluntary capacity to support people who were despairing. It was the idea of a Swiss philanthropist to bring together people offering this kind of support in varoius European countries including Poland. So this gave me experience of the needs of translation. In those days it was in French and I have no doubt helped me learn the language. This time we were discussing in English and Russian!  However we also have the common language of Reiki.

Phyllis made us very welcome with tea and a wonderful apple cake made by one of the organisers Bayan.  This kept us going through the long day of discussions, with breaks for lunch and dinner.  We finally finished at 10pm, by which time I was very tired.  I was therefore delighted to find Svetlana waiting for me in the reception area, ready to take me 'home'.  It didn"t take me long to fall asleep!

First Day in Almaty

I had been told that where I was staying wasqs near mountains but was unable to see them in the dark when I arrived. I was greeted with a wonderful sight of them the next morning. 

I would have liked a lie in after the long day of traveling but as Svetlana is one of the organizers we had to be up early to go to the hotel.  So after a lovely breakfast that included goats cheese Svetlana had made we drove through Almaty to the Alatau hotel.  

I soon heard that Phyllis had organized an outing for some of us to go to the mountains and visit a special lake there. It was a wonderful day out that included a delicious picnic of local bread made by another of the organizers, 2 types of dried apricots, pistachios and assam tea.

The colour of the lake is amazing and the atmosphere there with the mountains all around with snow covered peaks was beautiful. 

  

We then went to a Chinese restaurant! The food was more like the food I've had in China than the Chinese food we have in the UK, but with a few local elements such as the iced mint tea and local fish.

On the way back we went to a market because Phyllis wanted to get some provisions. I love markets so enjoyed looking at all the local vegetables and bought some round hard cheeses that I thought would be a good snack!

Eventually Svetlana and I returned to her home and I fell gratefully into bed! I had little trouble falling asleep even if it was only 6.30pm UK time (Kazakhstan is 4 hours ahead).