The Balashram trek
Registered Charity : Kriya Yoga Institute UK (Reg number 1083220)
Life is an amazing journey and I would like to share with you how I have found myself participating in this wonderful event to raise monies for the Balashram Project.

I practice a system of meditation called kriya yoga, which has no religion or creed, it is simply a meditation technique devised to bring more peace and calmness in to our daily lives. Whilst I was attending a gathering in London the idea of a trek to raise monies for the school / orphanage which the kriya organisation sponsors was raised. It was a trek up mount Sinai and then through the Sinai desert. I felt such excitement and inspiration at the idea, my heart was singing, I felt so alive and knew somewhere inside that I was being called on this adventure. As the day wore on the reality of the commitment began to hit home. I would have to seriously train to get fit, spend time fund raising, as a very busy person who travels a lot, my mind began to produce numerous obstacles to cloud the calling of my heart.

That evening I had a dream, in which I was walking with lots of Arabs and I could hear the call to the mosque in the background, then the pyramids appeared!! However, I, in my ignorance believed the Sinai to be in Israel, so I told my friends that my dream was a sure sign I was not meant to go!!! Only later did I find out the Sinai is in Egypt!

Time passed and I continued to ignore signs, like turning the television on and the Sinai being there, Moses seemed to pop up everywhere, and when I picked angel cards for guidance I continually picked the "travel" card, which also features a desert!! None of this was enough to convince me to start an intensive training program and look at fund raising.

Still feeling uncomfortable with my decision I finally decided to ask in my meditation for a very clear sign whether I was meant to go. I didn't want all these wishy washy signs; cards and the Sinai popping up all over the place I wanted a "true" sign, one that I could not deny. Imagine my surprise, humility and joy, when the very next day I received an anonymous donation to a charity of my choice in the post, the first time this has ever happened. The amount was significant to me too!! Well I had "challenged" The Divine and she had replied. I could no longer permit my mind to play games I knew what I had to do.

The next day I went and joined the local gym and told my lovely friends, Maureen, Trisha and Sue, who have also committed to coming on the adventure. So now we are in the midst of fund raising (between us we have to raise £10,000) and training. All of our personal costs like flights, accommodation and trek expenses we have funded ourselves, so all monies that we raise go directly to the cause.

As this is a Spiritual journey too, we are all facing personal challenges to help us over come our perceived limitations. For myself I am absolutely convinced the time in the gym is in a different dimension. As I am fast walking on the treadmill, set at an incline, I have never known time to go so slow. The sweat drops from my glowing face and I still have only done 10 minutes, another 30 to go!!!. I have learnt so much more about the power and condition of the mind; and it IS in the mind where my obstacles are. After years of trying to tame this monkey mind, it seems to have broken free of the restraints and be running wild. Thank God I have the understanding to know this is simply another level of development and that continuous struggle to walk the talk!!

There is information about the Project below. The most important thing for me is that all the monies raised will go to the benefit of the children, not to administrators and the like. The organisation is none profit making and run mainly by volunteers. As life has brought me to this undertaking I am sure it will provide the means. If you would like to donate anything at all for which we would be very grateful; please make your cheques payable to Balashram trek.

More information can be obtained from the website www.balashramtrek.org

Or you can contact me, Julie wise on email info@juliewise.co.uk or telephone me on +44 (0) 1524 418663 Thank you for listening, for your time and consideration.

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