Yggdrasil Living Wholeness is the name we gave to the vision that brought us to Bornholm.
Yggdrasil, in Norse mythology, is the Tree of Life, representing different aspects of the human experience. There is the underworld nesting in the roots, then the ordinariness of life and the dilemmas of the human condition hanging on the branches and, finally, the spiritual dimensions shining in the crown of the tree. Drawing on this powerful representation of a life well-explored and well-lived, we wanted to understand what is involved in living from and for wholeness.
The origin story begins with the purchase of a large property that we could convert into a residential centre. Through this material renovation project, we could delve into the phenomenology of consciousness. From the start, our approach has been experiential. This has implied submitting to a direct contact with reality, on its terms, and being present to the seasons of transformation and the tides of change. In so doing, we have learnt to trust our intuitive knowledge as we track the unfolding nature of consciousness spiralling through stages and states.
Over the years, chapter by chapter, the story has been rewritten several times, uncovering new iterations of the original dream as we bob up and down the waves and meet the inevitable, and yet fruitful, frictions between dreams and reality. Without us realising it, the idea of a residential centre endorsing contemplative practices, where contemplation is the destination, rose from the rubble of all the previous shattered dreams.
Contemplative practices call us to pay deep attention to our subjective experience, to listen to all the invitations that surround us and enjoy the silent music of existence. Contemplation is the disciplined art of gazing into the world looking back at us and, in so doing, reflecting back to us something of our inner world patiently awaiting our full presence, our vast wisdom and our abiding love.
Bed & Breakfast in the guesthouse is part of the contemplative practices we have created for Yggdrasil Living Wholeness, although we don’t present it as such. We leave each guest to have their unique experience of a life of contemplation, albeit for a few days.
We also offer retreats or longer stays introducing visitors to the art of living wholeness and, subsequently, discovering oneness with all creation through contemplation.
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