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queenswood facebook fans unite!

Posted on Nov. 16, 2009 by Stefan Jonsson, Programs and Marketing Coordinator

Join the Queenswood fan page on Facebook.  Follow this link here to become a fan: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/pages/Victoria-BC/Queenswood/...

work must be meaningful, health experts say

Posted on Monday Nov.16/09  by Kate

Over the past two years at Queenswood, many of our programs have been inspired by the hope of helping people find renewed meaning in their work.  We were excited to see the recognition of this need is spreading. The Globe and Mail's Careers section this weekend featured an article about spirituality in the workplace.  In Victoria, Queenswood is a unique resource for workplaces interested in such programs. 

It's about helping people to explore how they can find worth in the work they do and lead a more meaningful life aligned with their values, says Linda Lewis-Daly, principal of workplace wellness consultancy Lewis-Daly and Associates in Toronto.
In the last six months, she says, she's seen an uptick in requests from companies to find ways to make spiritually helpful moves, such as bringing programs on site for meditation, yoga and tai chi. 

“There is an awakening in workplaces,” she says.
“The turbulence that the economic times have created has required that they go deeper because people are searching for meaning.”

For the full Globe and Mail article,  click here.

judy roberts: what a gal!

Posted on Nov. 12, 2009 by Marina Smith, ssa, Community Relations Coordinator

For 7 years Judy greeted people and answered their questions in the reception/hospitality at Queenswood. For much of that time, she was there both Saturday all day, and on Wednesday evenings. Now that a new staff person has been brought in to be there in the evenings, Judy has moved to greeting and welcoming guests on a Friday afternoon as they arrive for a retreat. She also helps out in the kitchen. We are glad to hear her voice, enjoy her humour, and experience her strength and reliability. Thanks, Judy.

Our lives, a sand mandala - posted by Kate on October 30

Have you had a chance to view the sand mandala in the Sacred Arts of Tibet exhibition at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria?

During the past month,  the monks have been engaged in crafting this beautiful sand painting.  From the centre outward, colourful grain by grain, they have created an elaborate picture of the universe.  Their prayerful and painstaking work has transformed the exhibition room into a sacred space.  It's all the more poignant when you realize that after all that time and effort to place each grain of sand just so,  the project will conclude with the peaceful, almost playful scattering of the sand. 

 

The project is a spiritual exercise of letting go which invites all of us to meditate on the  meaning and beauty of our own lives and creative work.  In this creation and scattering of the mandala, we explore a central paradox of spirituality: within our ever-changing,  living and dying world, we create and discover and live within eternal beauty and meaning.

If you missed seeing the creation of this mandala, you can watch step by step photos of this process in a great BBC feature by clicking here.  The mandala will be on display in the Art Gallery for the next few weeks; it's a great place to spend some time meditating.

  You can learn more about  this exhibit in this Times Colonist article.  It will be at the art gallery until Dec. 5 when there will bea dismantling ceremony and the sand will be gently deposited into the ocean.