Ben Ralston

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Jul 02 2012

What Your Body Needs (Once a Year). ~ Ben Ralston

Want more Magic?
January 2001 I went to India and trained as a Yoga teacher. The hardest, roughest, toughest, most grueling, painful, and downright miserable month of my life also marked a turning point – when I began to take responsibility for myself, find my path, and really live.
Since then, I’ve taken and led many retreats. I can’t imagine going more than a year or two without one now.
My body needs it.
So does yours.
Modern life is fast and super-stressful. We get sucked into the mundane before we can say ‘must-be-mindful’. Spat out again on the other side of a lost year, all those unresolved resolutions shored up in our subconscious, we end up waging war with ourselves, not realizing that the real enemy is the system that we allow ourselves to get caught up in – thinking that we need it.
We don’t need it – it needs us. We don’t need anything. And that’s what you realize – deeply – when you go on a retreat.

You realize that you’re fine just as you are.

No WiFi, no cell phones, no media blare – nothing but nature.
And of course, there’s the Yoga (or Tai Chi), the fresh, healthy food, the conscious relaxation, the sense of being surrounded by like-minded people (you know, community), the deep breathing, and the space and time to simply enjoy.
These are things that human beings need daily, and that most people are starved of.
The moment it hit me that retreats are actually important – was when I finished leading my first one. It was mid-Summer, on a Croatian Island, and we’d started the week (35 of us) holding hands standing in a circle, as I chanted a sacred mantra for auspicious beginnings.
At the end of the week we stood in a circle holding hands and I chanted a sacred mantra for auspicious endings, and then we walked out from under the canopy that covered us.
Everyone outside was standing looking up at the sky, open mouthed, pointing, in awe.
There was a perfect circular rainbow halo around the sun:
Pretty auspicious huh?!
I’d never seen anything like it before in my life – and it felt like (accuse me of having a God-complex if you will!) a divine omen, an (almost) neon flashing sign stating loud and clear:
“Yes, you’re on the right path, keep up the good work”
So I keep on taking and leading retreats. I believe that we need to break out of the system occasionally, remind ourselves of what’s important and what’s not.
And in the same way that we all know we need a weekend once a week, I hope that one day we’ll all retreat once a year (just like we get our cars serviced routinely). To step out of the mundane and remind ourselves that life is sacred, magical and mysterious, and to actively celebrate and participate in that awareness.
I’m running a retreat in August this year, on the Croatian island of Iž. Have a look at the beautiful video of Iž below, and if you’d like more information, go here.
And if not this year, then next. And if not one of my retreats, then someone else’s – you owe it to yourself and to the world around you to stay connected to the joy and wonder and magic deep inside of yourself.
Don’t get caught up in life. Live it – fully, heartedly, meaningfully. And if you’re not sure how, find out.

Our time here is precious, and all too fleeting.

Spread the love now – share this with the world.
Resource: The Sivananda Yoga Organization offers year-round retreats in all of it’s nine Ashrams around the world. They’re cheap, the teaching is of a routinely high standard, and food is excellent. It’s not for everyone – it’s a ‘no-frills’ experience. But if you really want to retreat – in the true sense of the word – then I thoroughly recommend it.

Written by Ben Ralston · Categorized: alternative healing, meditation, Retreat, Uncategorized, yoga

Apr 24 2012

Take responsibility – don’t hand over your power to others.

Somebody told me about a friend who is obsessed with the world ending in 2012.
Guess what – the world won’t end this year in 2012. It probably won’t end for a very, very long time.
Until it does, please don’t give away your power to anyone that would have you relinquish your responsibility. Whether they be conspiracy theorists, psychics, healers, spiritual teachers, yoga ‘guru’s… anyone.
Right now, there is important work to be done – for yourself, for those around you, for the planet, for future generations.
Let’s do that work, and stop worrying about an uncertain future. Focus on the present – be real, stay grounded, and do what you need to do to cultivate more joy.
Be more free.
Spread more love.

Thanks for listening – if it’s of value, please share.

Written by Ben Ralston · Categorized: alternative healing, freedom, joy, love, power, responsibility, Uncategorized, video

Mar 22 2012

Understanding Being.

In answer to Facebook friend George’s question:

“Life-long issue: intellectualizing “spiritual” or “mystical” experiences. My desire to understand everything makes it difficult to rest in the intuitive knowing of “God” or “truth” or “the universe” or “consciousness” — whatever you want to call it. That which cannot be named. I’ve experienced it so profoundly but always return to the quest to define and comprehend it, then I end up with a lot of concepts about what I experienced, a poor substitute for simply BEING it.”

Thumb it up, share it up, spread the love.


And send me your questions, in a comment or a message. I’m happy to help.

Written by Ben Ralston · Categorized: beingness, consciousness, freedom, healing, joy, Uncategorized, video

Mar 09 2012

How to let go or release buried emotions and suppressed feelings?

A talk about healing and personal development. What causes our emotional problems, and how can we solve them?
Answer – trauma is what causes almost all our problems, and healing trauma solves them. And healing trauma can be fast, easy, and fun!

Hope you didn’t get too seasick watching it! I’ll try to keep future videos a little more ‘stable 🙂

Written by Ben Ralston · Categorized: abundance, alternative healing, consciousness, enlightenment, trauma, Uncategorized, video

Feb 22 2012

My first video! About social media, and the new (spiritual) business paradigm…

Got a stinking cold, -10 degrees outside, seminars to teach tomorrow, sleep deprived for the last 15 months, and Diane Ferraro goes and tempts me with her PJ’s. What’s a guy to do… 

Written by Ben Ralston · Categorized: grounded spirituality, spirituality, Success, Uncategorized, video

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