“Trust Yourself” she encouragingly stated. When asked to state the message of her teachings in a few words or less (by interviewers), Gangaji said to us she always answers with these two important words.

Gangaji shared so many important words with us over the 5 day silent retreat at Kripalu last week. As we entered into silence Gangaji invited us to discover the silence within and experience what is already inside of us, at the core of us. She invited us to stop and be still. To stop the searching, stop the doing and stop the trying. We were encouraged to simply BE.

The retreat named after her most recent book, The Diamond in Your Pocket, was a 5 day journey into truth, inquiry and self-discovery. It was a moment by moment experience of discovering what exists beneath the layers of our thoughts and emotions. Gangaji invited us to consider the truth of who we are instead of believing the thoughts that dictate who we think ourselves to be. Undoubtedly, this is no easy task. And well, this is not a task at all. Nor is it something that can be done, it simply just is, and is meant to be experienced through a willingness to accept and surrender to what is already present.

Gangaji so gracefully and wisely created a space for us to inquire into the true nature of ourselves. Along this 5 day journey I experienced an array of emotions and thoughts that could easily be heard and felt in the silence. I also experienced a deeper connection and understanding to the nature of my true self and I witnessed others doing the same.

As the retreat was ending, Gangaji reminded us that we need not take 5 days away from home to encounter the gift of retreat. In fact we can retreat any time, anywhere. If we are willing to experience silence and what is always available to us in that silence, we simply need to take time out to stop, be still and inquire. It is in this silence that we can hear our intuition and connect to our infinite wisdom and essential nature.

When do you retreat from your day or from you week to check in with yourself ? Do you hear your intuition ? Do you trust yourself?

May you discover the beauty and wisdom of who you already are.

To learn more about Gangaji visit her website here.

There are so many wonderful videos of Gangaji you can watch on YouTube . In this one, Gangaji speaks about fulfillment. Enjoy.