Omega Institute

The above pictures were taken at Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York.  Omega is an educational retreat that offers workshops on body, mind, and spirit wellness.  I attended a weekend workshop taught by Pema Chodron in May 2010.  My travel journey to Omega involved an all night plane ride to Toronto, an early morning flight to New York city, a cab ride to Penn station, a train ride to Rhinebeck, and a shuttle to Omega - I was very relieved when I arrived!  Omega is in a tranquil setting, surrounded by trees and filled with many beautiful gardens.  There are no outdoor lights, so it is very peaceful and magical at night.  Pema Chodron also requested that the workshop attendees remain silent until Saturday at noon (the workshop started on Fri evening), so this further contributed to the peacefulness of the setting.  One of the many helpful teachings that Pema Chodron shared during the workshop was for us to work with whatever our source of distraction or stress is and to utilize it as a platform upon which to build our mindfulness practice.  I love this shift in perspective that she shared - I think it is often the case that we look at our source of stress as something that we need to overcome or something that only holds us back, but her teachings encouraged us to instead look at our stress as a holding space where we can rest our awareness and then begin to build further mindfulness/grounding/balance from. I find this a very empowering approach and one that provides us with a great opportunity to continue to build and strengthen our overall health.