About Us
Opened in 2005 to provide a place where people could come and discover themselves
and take back important tools for the balance (true success) and joy of life. It
took me nearly 10 years after losing custody of my child so I wanted to pass on
this wisdom to people so they could do it quicker, and this is surely happening
at Shunyata. We are not 5 star but a lovely, homely nurturing older home with gorgeous
bathrooms, ocean views, bursting colourful english gardens with hammock & gorgeous new deck with bean bag lounger for relaxing and it's totally private and coastal walks to die for and excellent healing energy. We have our own nearly private 3 beaches 10 mins by car. It’s peaceful, tranquil and full of birdsong
– a true place to heal and be pampered.
- Are you out of balance and need to get a clear direction?
- Are you lost and need to find your life purpose?
- Are you stuck and need help to get to the next level?
- Are you shut down and have no juice for life and need help in opening?
- Do you need to powerfully cleanse and detox your body of impurities through the
most ancient and proven ayurveda and lose some weight?
- Have you been recently lost everything and been in deep despair
- Or do you need pampering and healing and lots of rest?
Other wellness retreats focus mainly on the physical, diet, exercise and massage
– Shunyata Retreat encompasses all of this but also connects you to your heart and
soul and helps you to take this place back to your daily life. Also we pride ourselves
on being uniquely one on one.
"The unfolding of Essence becomes the process of living. Life is no longer a string of disconnected experiences of pleasure & pain, but a flow, a stream of aliveness" AH ALMAAS
People feel safe, trusting and held to dive in and connect to their higher selves.
We all have times in life when things are not going good. we feel shutdown, exhausted
or disconnected. People are leaving with a new lease of life, inspired, energised
and feeling brand new. Whether you want to deal with health and wellbeing, weight
loss, emotional issues, just need a rest, or want to be nurtured and pampered or
rekindle your love with or without a partner, we will target your needs individually.
Typical day at Shunyata - Wake up and have a juice or herbal tea and do one on one
yoga for an hour, go for a gorgeous walk, come back have breakfast, then downstairs
to the healing sanctuary for an array of treatments – maybe lie down before a delicious
lunch served in the garden, then rest of the time either in the hammock or gardens
or maybe a swim or another walk. Meditation early evening, then a scrumptious dinner
with time to watch a DVD or read from the amazing library.
Come, come come to the edge, come to the edge – he pushed she flew!!!!!!!!!!!.
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It doesn't interest me what you do for a living,
I want to know what you ache for,
I dare to dream of meeting your heart's yearning.
It doesn't interest me how old you are,
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love,
for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon,
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your sorrow,
if you have been opened by life's betrayals,
or have become shriveled and closed from fear of future pain.
I want to know if you can sit with pain,
mine or your own, without moving to hide it, or fade it or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with JOY,
mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let ecstasy fill you to the
tips of
your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful,
or to remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is truth.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself,
if you can hear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.
I want to know if you can see beauty,
even when it's not pretty every day, and if you can source your life from its presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure, yours or mine,
and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver moon quot;YES quot;.
It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up after a night of grief and despair,
weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done for the children.
It doesn't interest me who you are, or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me, and not shrink
back.
It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself, and if you truly like the company
you keep in the empty moments.
by Oriah Mountain Dreamer
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Paru
is a New Zealander who has travelled for 27 years, learnt 3 languages and really
lived totally. At 30 everything changed and when I look back now I was being called
to do something deeper, more worthwhile in this lifetime. I lost custody of my child
and from that day forward I have used my experiences and traumas in life to grow
up, not grow old, through the passion forThe Enneagramand patterns of suffering
and meeting emotions withThe Journey.
I am now 54 years young. I love life, my heart is open and I love my work. I have
taken the hardest lessons and used them for inspiring and helping others. I have
taken over 20 years of self healing; the tools that I think have worked the most
profoundly and used them to get to the core. I feel truly humbled and blessed to
be able help people to find their god like selves and have been seeing people do
it in 3 days. It’s like a breakthrough, a coming home and I have the privilege
to
witness it.
Some of us need to get our power back, some need to be more truthful, some need
to learn to love themselves and some need to drop perfectionism and be humble. Whatever
is your learning – we will get to the core quickly to help you drop years of suffering.
My gifts to you are passion for life, fearlessness, trust in a higher power, inspiration,
humility, non-judgment, nurturing and making people feel special, integrity and
an exquisite ability to stay open and love and serve love and your opening in this
lifetime. I will hold your hand to help you discover your higher self throughThe
Journeyand the peace that you have been searching for will be inside of you. You
can go away on holiday but you still take you, you can come to Shunyata and change
your life.
Paru feels that 2012 is truly a year for many of us to be free of the mind and ego patterns. The shakes in Christchurch just help you to let go of what you are not and come to your true essence.
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"The further you enter into the truth, the deeper it is" ZEN MASTER BANKEI
Food
If you are a foodie – you will truly and hopefully love the food at shunyata,
if you are not you will be inspired to cook – we truly are what we eat. The food
here is cooked with love.
"Those who are awake live in a state of constant amazement" BUDDHA
The food is healthy, nutritious and according to your ayurvedic type on a detox
and if you come for a Journey Retreat you will have healthy nutritious and little
naughty treats for your courage.
Did you know that good chocolate has magnesium, anti-oxidants, potassium and the
feel good factor that is so important? Also strawberries, chocolates and champagne
bring pleasure to a woman’s body which is so important in her feminine opening.
Typical Menu
Breakfast Choices
- Green Smoothie (the food of the gods)
- Organic Muesli, Yogurt and Seasonal fruits
- Eggs Benedict with fresh Akaroa Salmon to die for when not on detox
- Croissants and Bagels
Lunch Choices
- Vegetable Frittata
- Spinach and Feta Triangles
- Pumpkin Pies
- Vietnamese Rolls
- Quinoa Cous Cous
- Marinated Seaweed Salad
- Delicious Salads with Quinoa
Dinner Choices
- Pumpkin and Veg Risotto
- Vietnamese Fish Cakes
- Fresh Fish done Asian or French style
- Akaroa Salmon with Organic Soba Noodles
- Indian Veg Platter with Chutneys and Raita
- Delicious Pasta and Stir Fries
Desserts
- Chocolate Orange Surprise
- Pavalova and Raspberry Roll
- White Chocolate and Raspberry Brownie
- Brandy Snaps and Gourmet Ice Cream
Accommodation
Beautiful
hut just above house (secluded) with exquisite views over the heads.
Double bed
and bathroom just downstairs.
Master
bedroom (love nest) has also beautiful views over bay and heads.
See the ships coming
in at sunrise.
Queen size bed, large and spacious.
Separate bathroom.
The
third room has a king single bed overlooking the Buddha and rose garden.
Separate bathroom
Bed and Breakfast
Bed and Breakfast $150 pp pnt inc all meals, yoga in the morning and meditation
in evening if wanted. Sessions extra –see therapies.
Min. two nights stay.
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Diamond Harbour and Excursions
Having travelled for 27 years and lived in Byron Bay Australia, when I discovered
Diamond Harbour I came home – truly inside. Everytime someone comes I get the gift
of refalling in love with this exquisite undiscovered paradise where the ocean truly
sparkles like diamonds. They call us the sunny side of the harbour, 10mins by ferry
from Lytellton and 45 or 40 mins from the city and airport. Lovely walks, perfect
for a retreat, amazing birdlife and untouched volcanic beaches and bays. There’s
not many places left undiscovered in the world and this is one of them. Maybe a
kayak adventure, a cruise of the harbour, a trip to a world class growers market
on Saturday in Lytellton or an excursion to Akaroa or Castle Hill, nothing is too
far.
For more about what to do visit
www.lytelltonharbour.co.nz
Excursions on Offer
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The way of love is not a subtle argument. The door there is devastation. Birds make great sky-circles of their freedom. How do they learn it? "They fall, & falling, they're given wings RUMI Castle Hill- labled as the 7th highest energy vortex in the world, 1-1/2
hrs away. A hidden place, landscape of giant stone, scattered Stonehenge, what Barry
Brailsford describes as a sacred nest of stones, a place even the Dalai Lama has
talked of as an important energy centre for the earth. Having recently returned
from Machu Pichu, Paru swears that this place has a similar energy with not the
tourists. Just wander through the amazing rock formation and energy and echo of
this amazing place. Includes a picnic lunch and an Indian dinner out. $110
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Akaroa– 1-1/12 hr from Shunyata. Maybe stop at a fossil museum, wander around
the village - gorgeous walks and scenery. |
$80
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Chocolate Tour - Visit the famous She Café and Chocolate Restaurant and learn
the wonders of the health benefits of chocolate and see how it is made – taste treats
of the amazing cocoa beans from Fiji and watch a movie.
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$120
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enquire with Paru |
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