Mindful Day at Casa Cares - May 26, 2015

Mindful Day at Casa Cares

Toscana, Italia

26 Maggio, 2015

 

I have the privilege of blogging about two of the more personally transformative “lectures” during our stay (I use quotes because both of these events were as interactive as possible)?

In the morning we took a walk out to the organic garden or small farm at Casa Cares with Giordano, the Mindful-Farmer-in-Residence (my title for him) in order to take in with all our senses the holistic goodness of life teeming around us.  Before we took a 5-minute silent, solitary, mindful walk around the garden, we heard about Giordano’s philosophy, which was explained to us in such an honest and caring way that it brought tears to my eyes and hope to my soul.  He used to fight for the rights of people against abusive powers by standing in opposition in ways that he came to realize just added more pain to the world.  Then he took a leap of faith into literally “tending his own garden” (not Giordano’s words, but those of Voltaire from his political novel, Candide). 

To Giordano, to bring life to his world in a way that would not just temporarily “fix” a problem, but would have a long-lasting positive impact on the earth and on untold numbers of generations, was the better way.  We learned about and then witnessed his deep respect for the natural cycle of life, his love of the community that gathers to help each other bake bread, garden and enjoy togetherness, and his peacefulness in the world he inhabits.  

Giordano and his daughter, Dora

There was such a calming of the soul throughout his presentation that I just had to take more time every day after this to mindfully wander around the grounds and breathe deeply.    

Dr. Michel then treated us to an interactive afternoon presentation which helped us to understand more deeply how our culture impacts how we interact with others.  So as not to give too much away, I will just say that we played cards and found out a lot about ourselves in the interactions and processing afterward.  We also spent some time talking about our strengths, our self-awareness and the Johari Window, which focuses us on how well integrated we are in our lives and relationships.  Dr. Michel’s approach to “teaching” allowed for us to be active participants in this workshop, which I, as well as many others, found to be a very positive, transformative and FUN experience. 

Dr. Michel -Culture, Talents, & Strengths

One of the topics that was most interesting to me was that of group dynamics.  Our GSU group was small; only 3 of us traveled to Italy this year.  There were 2 groups larger than ours, and several individual persons from other programs and stages in life who had bravely come alone to be part of a larger group.  By this day, some of us were starting to feel the normal tension between groups and some of the normal emotions around being out of our comfort zone. 

 Dr. Michel’s workshop gave us the opening to talk about how we were feeling, as we were sipping wine in the gathering room before dinner.  What we found after this, was that we all started being more mindful of each other and how our own insular behavior was affecting individuals and the group.  There was a discernable shift in the interactions, and that evening I felt like we were starting to become a community.   

Italy Participants enjoying a Meal

Some of us noticed our new friend missing at dinner, and set out together to search for her down the curvy road she had taken to town.  She made it back safely (because she stopped a car and asked for a ride!), but she told me later that the fact that we had cared enough to go look for her changed how she was perceiving her experience.  Dr. Michel had prepared us well to see ourselves and each other much more mindfully, and from that moment forward, it felt like that was in the atmosphere at Casa Cares.