by Thilda Lehacque
This August 20-27, 2017, some members of the three French-speaking Lings gathered in Savoy, France for a retreat of Yantra Yoga and Pranayamas led by Patrizia Pearl and Jesus Martinez.
It took place in delightful surroundings, near Lake du Bourget, sung about by the romantic poet Alphonse de Lamartine. We were practicing in a XVIIth century convent surrounded by a park.
Very wisely, Patrizia and Jesus suggested that we should concentrate on the third Pranayama, the tsalung of Umar Jugpai Thabou, with which Mahasiddha Humchen Kara gained realization.
The first three days were spent preparing ourselves by doing a lot of Harmonious Breathing for a natural breath, the preliminary to everything, and then we went on with Lungsang to purify the prana, then Tsadul to correct the circulation of prana and get rid of obstacles with this special Pranayama and its five Yantras. And then we were ready to practice rhythmic breathing, in order to develop Kumbhaka.
Some of us were already well-trained in these exercises, and some quite new , some supple and some happier on a chair but, thanks to the attention Patrizia and Jesus gave to each of us, we all got great benefits from our practice.
On the following days, we went on with this routine and then we started practicing the Pranayama of Humchen Kara, and thanks to that systematic preparation it was a deep experience that will allow us to practice effectively on our own. We ended that wonderful retreat with a Ganapuja.
It was the second time Patrizia was leading that kind of retreat and we unanimously asked her and Jesus to do it again next year. We also thank Jocelyne Carasso and Marie-Christine Dauge who took it upon themselves the worries of organizing.
And above all, we thank our very precious Master, Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, for sharing with us these precious teachings few people could receive in Tibet in the past. We are indeed very fortunate!
Long Life to our Master!
