dekhomai

If you'd like to know more...

Having visited us at MBS, you might want to know more. If you'd like to connect with other spiritual seekers exploring the divine through nature, please click Forest Church. Below is a list of Forest Church groups, so you can see if there is one near you. Here is a link to find out more about Ruach cards.

Bradford SoulSpace Forest Church
Mid Wales Forest Church
Salisbury Plain Forest Church
St Albans Forest Church
Oasis Church Grimsby Forest Church
Dyffryn Clwyd Forest Church
Tyneside Forest Church
Avalon Forest Church
Ancient Arden Forest Church
Oakwood Forest Church
Wychwood Forest Church
New Forest Forest Church
Flagstaff Forest Church
Oxford Forest Church
Warfdale Forest Church
Wilcume Forest Church
Cheltenham Forest Church
Isle Of Wight Forest Church
Essex Forest Church
Pleasley Forest Church
Eastbourne Wild Spirit

connections?

I've been seeing a chiropractor recently for my back and noticed that the first couple of treatments left me feeling very vulnerable emotionally. Somehow the manipulation of my body had a impact on my mind and spirit. Maybe it's just a coincidence, although my chiropractor said that she has had people burst into tears at times when she has been treating them. And a friend who has had acupuncture for a sinus condition testified to a similar experience. Makes me wonder  how many of our physical aches and pains have their roots in emotional dis-ease and vice versa.

every right idea is eventually the wrong idea

i love books and ideas on creative thinking. years ago in a training session someone recommended a book called a whack on the side of the head by roger von oech. it came at a great time for me and changed the way the team i was part of then approached planning and ideas. we used to talk of being 'whacked' inspired by this little book. other writers at the time who also got us thinking in different directions were edward de bono and tom peters.

well the world has changed and i have discovered that roger von oech is now blogging (and has published several other books or card sets since - i think i'll order a card set - looks like fun for planning meetings) as is tom peters. so if you like that sort of thing keep an eye on their blogs ...

i liked the idea that every right idea is eventually the wrong idea. it applies in lots of areas of life, culture and change.

what ideas that were once right have now become wrong? (answers in the comments please)

The Baby Mind Reader

Did anyone else watch The Baby Mind Reader with Derek Ogilvie on Channel Five last night?

It wouldn't be my representative of my normal choice of viewing (having content about small children and being on Channel Five) but I was intrigued having seen some of the pre-publicity for the show. Any thoughts or reflections?

sacred space

need some sacred space at work? the free downlaodable pdf may be just what the doctor's ordered... the first suggestion of going for an intentionally slow walk may sound mad but actually it's a great idea as are many of the others.

A pain in the back

Last October I pulled a muscle in my back. All I did was reach for the shampoo in the shower. It was agony for a few days so I rested and then returned to exercising when it felt better. But by Christmas I was getting deferred pain in my leg when I ran. I’ve since seen a physio and osteopath and for a while had to give up all exercise. I had entered for the Windsor and London triathlons this year, and was hoping to improve my times, but I’ve had to pull out of both.

I feel like I’m on the mend now. My back feels stronger and I can now do a bit more exercise – I’m up to 20 minutes cycling in the gym! But I’ve found it so hard not being able to be active and it’s reminded me of the connection between mind, body and spirit. When I exercise I feel alive and strong; when I’m hobbling around with a bad back, I’ve felt low, spiralling down into comfort eating which then makes me feel worse. No doubt some of the good feeling is down to endorphins, but I think it’s also about a sense of well being at every part of yourself being in harmony and working like it should. I guess it’s most obvious when a part of your body gets damaged or out of shape. Do we pay as much attention to the well being of our spirits, or our minds?

creative thinking

mycoted is a site i have just discovered. this is the blurb...

Mycoted is dedicated to improving Creativity and Innovation for solving problems worldwide, with that in mind, we provide a central repository for Creativity and Innovation on the Internet as a summary of tools, techniques, mind exercises, puzzles, book reviews etc, that is open to all - and can be written by all.

there's a pretty impressive A-Z of creativity techniques, some of which i've seen before (random words, wishing, six hat thinking etc) and others i haven't. leave a comment if you have tried any that worked well.

if you like lateral thinking which is always good for stretching the mind there is also a section of puzzles . i find it amazing that even though i know there's a catch that's obvious in hindsight i often can't spot it!

hope

i love howies. whenever a new catalogue arrives it's a spiritual experience. their ethos/outlook on life and business is inspirational with their passion for treading lightly on the earth. yes their clothes are expensive but their sales are pretty regular. this summer's catalogue is no exception themed on hope. all the reflection pieces are in the think section of their web site. one of my favourites was a piece about business suits by jon matthews...

While we don't condone shoplifting, terrorising old ladies or generally making other people's lives a misery, the tabloids seem to be picking on the wrong people. Casual research suggests serious fraud, insider trading or acts of corporate manslaughter are unlikely to be carried out by people wearing hooded sweatshirts. Photographs of senior executives of British manufacturers of land mines, anti-personnel grenades and cluster bombs have shown no evidence of hoodie-wearers. Businessmen offering large amounts of cash in return for peerages, and the politicians who accept the cash, tend towards less casual items of clothing. When the decision was made to invade Iraq, no-one wore a hoodie. And the men who think Guantanamo Bay is still a good idea do not wear hoods themselves, though they have been known to offer them to guests. Sure, there's the odd villain who wants to conceal his face. But there's bigger villains around who have no such shame.

there's a great bunch of links to follow here and some more here. tell us if you find any gems in there...

and if you are feeling arty enter the art-think competition - deadline is june 30

london mind body spirit festival

the london mind body spirit festival is getting closer. it's the debut appearance for dekhomai. we are stand no 17. if you're going do come and visit us and say hi! the stand is only 2m x 2m so it's going to be nice and cosy. the write up on the exhibitors page says this about our stand:

Healing prayer, interactive meditations to try, space, meditation cd and cd rom, all from the Christian tradition.

we had our last planning meeting last night and are just about set...

the first dekhomai CD ROM has also arrived which is exciting. this is the online labyrinth that you can take and experience at home when you're not online. you can experience this on the stand on a laptop along with a couple of fun interactive pieces  of techno-spirituality. we also have a couple of leaflets that gareth has designed that are looking really good on the dekhomai theme - quotes from the mystics and so on - some of the images and quotes are in the mystical postcards photo album.

each day on the stand we'll be offering prayer for healing of mind body and spirit (or anything else) and that is free(!), there'll be space to sit and chat, and we'll have at least two interactive rituals to participate in at any one time - we'll rotate these around so that it keeps us and visitors to the stand fresh... these are currently iSpirituality; care bowl; prophecy table; christ we share; foot washing/massage. then we'll have a table with a few items for sale from the dekhomai shop... hope to see you there.

welcome

a new blog, a new web site, a new adventure begins here...

you may be wondering why dekhomai?...

it was a bit like trying to pick a band name - impossible! but somehow we stumbled across dekhomai on one of our brainstorms and we liked the sound of it - it has a good mysterious and old sounding ring to the word and a range of meanings which you can see in the right hand column of the web site. they are all around the theme of welcome, hospitality, the welcoming place. and that just seemed to fit perfectly with what dekhomai is about.

we picked the welcoming place as the strapline for the project. it works well with the stand that we are running at the london mind body spirit festival as that's precisely what we want it to be. and it looks pretty good on the logo that jon's designed.

we're into spirituality big time - and hope this site will be a place to visit if you are to. it will be a mix of reflections on a holistic approach to life that engages with all dimensions of who we are in mind body and spirit. we'll link to what we are calling dekhomai soulfood - resources for spiritual travellers. some of these will be available to purchase through the dekhomai shop but we'll also be linking to resources for spiritual travellers that we come across that are produced elsewhere. these may be for sale or just out there on the web - there's so much free stuff around after all... and we're not in it for the money. we're in it for the adventure and the passion.

we've been exploring spirituality and creating resources for it for years actually. so hopefully we bring some experience to the mix. our thinking and ideas are shaped by the christian faith tradition. that may be a surprise - it's more often associated with religion than spirituality in some peoples minds. but actually when you stop and think about it our faith tradition is packed with unearthed treasures down the ages that have been amazing soulfood for spiritual travellers. labyrinths, icons, the mystics, prayers, prophecy, meditation, ancient writings and so on... the problem has been (as it is with many a faith tradition) that it easily ends up being a means of control for people in power - we'll be avoiding that route. we prefer gift to control any day taking our inspiration from the god man jesus christ.

we're also unashamedly into contemporary culture and life so the spirituality will be mixed in with the stuff of everyday life at times in a playful way. we like what happens in the sampling and remixing of our tradition with culture.

we've chosen a blog as it enables a dynamic live web site. you can interact via comments on posts and as it grows we hope the conversation and community of fellow travellers will expand and fuel the journey...