"SUMEDHA SADHANA - AN EXCELLENT PROGRAMME!", SAY PARTICIPANTS.

The Six-week (May 20- June 30) Sumedha Sadhana programme that concluded yesterday  received excellent ratings from the participants. Some representative comments from the participants:

“The entire programme is excellent for personal growth. It has been very well organised. Every little bit has been taken care of.… I got so much more than I ever expected.”

“Sumedha Sadhana provided me renewal of heart and mind. It helped me work through the chaos in my mind… I feel rejuvenated.”

“ I felt very much at home right from the first day. Everything had been meticulously planned. …”

“I came experiencing a desert. I go back with a sense of awe and wonder. I was helped to reassess my life, find healing of my woundedness and move on…”

“Experiences at Sumedha have expanded my heart to give and receive love… I go back free and happy. Many burdens have been lifted. …. The spirituality offered here is so much deeper than what I have experienced at other Centres.”

“I came carrying lot of mess, loss of meaning in life… I have been able work through these. The journey here has been so beautiful. I return happy and revitalised…”

“It has been a truly sacred experience. I came here with struggles and chaos, a wounded spirit and spiritual dryness… I now experience joy and pace. My burdens have been lifted and I have decided to create a happy future.”

“Sumedha helped me to discover myself, make a paradigm shift in self-concept… I profited so much though I had not wanted to come.”

“I came with lots of struggle… I have been touched and healed and I go back with hope.  My troubled life has been calmed…. Sumedha helped me to put God back into the centre of my life.”

"I came here with a lot of bondage, discontent… The debris of the past has been cleared. A fountain of energy is flowing through me freely.”

“Sumedha has been a liberating experience… It is a well-integrated course – rich inputs, honest sharing, wonderful family atmosphere, and deep prayerfulness in beautiful and healing surroundings.”

“I felt very much at home. Sumedha is a place where I could be myself. There was no compulsion in anything..."

“Sumedha is a place where we can experience lots of love.”

“Sumedha gave me a new life. It has been a beautiful experience.”

A longer (9 weeks) Sumedha Sadhana begins on September 25. Facilitators: Ajoy Fernandes,  Alba Rodrigues, Gerard Alvarez, Joe Mannath, Jose Parappully, and MC Abraham. Registrations for the same are on. Those interested can contact the Centre at sumedhacentre@gmail.com 

See the previous blog for Sumedha Sadhana programme description.

23rd SUMEDHA SADHANA CONCLUDES

The 23^rd edition of Sumedha Sadhana concluded today. This 6-week-long programme commenced on May 25^th.

Sumedha Sadhana is an intensive inner journey in quest of greater healing and wholeness.

Using insights and practices from spiritual traditions and psychology participants were helped to gain a deeper insight into the psychological dynamics operating on their spiritual journey and integrate these in healthy and meaningful ways to live more satisfying and fruitful lives.

The major module of the programme was “Psychological Dynamics on the Spiritual Journey” which focused especially on healthy spirituality, early life experiences and midlife dynamics.” This module also explored human sexuality and affectivity and their healthy integration in the context of the participants’ celibate lifestyle. It was facilitated by Jose Parappully, the Director of the Centre.

In the module “Befriending Our Emotions,” M. Goretti Kankarathinam presented the meaning of emotions and emotional maturity and helped participants to explore and understand some of their major positive, negative, hidden and dominant emotions and to process them through art, music, imagery, role play and experiential group exercises.

In the related module “Core Transformation” Jose Kuttianimattathil helped participants experience healing of painful experiences and emotions and learn to live from the core state within them which radiates peace, love and harmony.

The Sumedha Sadhana experience concluded with Group Therapy facilitated by Jose Parappully and Peter Lourdes. Group therapy provided participants opportunity to face their brokenness and woundedness, their defences and unhelpful patterns of living and relating, and to move toward greater healing and wholeness.

The programme received excellent ratings from the participants. Some representative comments from the participants will be posted in our next blog.

A longer (9 weeks) Sumedha Sadhana begins on September 25. Facilitators: Ajoy Fernandes, Alba rodrigues, Gerard Alvarez, Joe Mannath, Jose Parappully and  MC Abraham, Registrations for the same are on. Those interested can contact the Centre at sumedhacentre@gmail.com

SUMEDHA OUTREACH – SOUTH CITY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL KOLKATA

The Director of Sumedha Centre, Jose Parappully PhD, was invited to do another workshop for the teachers of the secondary section of South City International School, Kolkata on June 14-15. He had done a workshop there last year.

Last year the theme of the Workshop was “Enhancing Institutional Effectiveness.” This year the Workshop focused on one of the significant dynamics that contribute to  Institutional Effectiveness, namely, Relational (Communication) Networks.

Accordingly, the workshop was labelled “Enhancing Interpersonal Communication.”

Of the 48 participants this year, 15  had joined the school since the last workshop.  Hence, the facilitator briefly referred to the concepts explored last year to acquaint the new teachers with these foundational concepts. He then introduced Howard Gardner’s concept of Personal Intelligences and their role in effective interpersonal relationships and communication.

A major obstacle to effective interpersonal relationships is unaddressed conflicts. Teachers were helped to discern current conflicts between Management and Teachers and conflicts among themselves and introduced to tools that help address and work through conflicts in an effective and helpful manner.

The focus of exploration on the second day of the Workshop was Interpersonal Relationships among the teachers. The role of Assertive Communication was pointed out and teachers were helped to understand and practise it in a series of experiential exercises.

Video clips, songs, introspection and group interaction and processing were some of the tools used, besides insights from organisational psychology presented by the facilitator.

Teachers found the Workshop very useful to enhance their interpersonal and, consequently, work relationships. The Workshop especially provided them, they observed, opportunity to come to understand more deeply one another and the issues that affect them, which in turn has contributed to increased desire to work toward greater cohesion and collaboration.

SUMEDHA OUTREACH: SEMINAR ON PSYCHOSEXUAL INTEGRATION AT HYDERABAD

The Director of Sumedha Centre, Jose Parappully, was the main presenter at a Seminar in Hyderabad on “Psychosexual Integration and Celibate Maturity” – the theme of the book he recently co-edited.

The Seminar was organised by the Salesian Psychological Association in collaboration with the Salesian Province of Hyderabad. It was held at the Salesian Provincial House, near Himmatsagar.

Around 50 Salesians (Rectors, leaders of communities, and the Delegates of various Commissions) and around 25 catholic nuns from around Hyderabad, as well as from far away New Delhi, participated.

This was the third Seminar on the theme that the Salesian Psychological Association organised. The first was in February in New Delhi, and the second in April in Bangalore.

Parappully had presented at the previous two seminars as well. At Hyderabad he made four presentations: Emotional Maturity and Psychosexual Integration Across the Life Span; Sexual Orientation and Sexual Behaviours; Healing from the Effects of Sexual Abuse; and Psychosexual Integration, Celibate Maturity and Spirituality.

The other presenters at the Seminar were Jose Kuttianimattathil (Co- Editor of the book) on Psychosexual Integration, Celibate Maturity and Formation; John Tharakan on Boundary Violations, Gender and Legal Issues; and Anton Paul on Canon Law and Sexual Boundary Violations. Sr Gracy and Fr. John Sebastian (both Novice Masters) joined the presenters in a panel discussion.

SUMEDHA OUTREACH TO THE BRAHMAPUTRA

Jose Parappully, Director of Sumedha Centre, was invited to facilitate a workshop for the Major Superiors of religious congregations – Provincials and Generals – of the North Eastern region.

The theme of the two-day workshop was “A Mature Spirituality of Today.” The workshop was held at Don Bosco Institute on the banks of the Brahmaputra river in Guwahati on 14-15 May. Thirty four Major Superiors participated.

The keynote address at the workshop was delivered by Most Rev. Thomas Menamparambil, Archbishop Emeritus of Guwhati. He spoke of a Missionary Spirituality of Involvement and Encounter.

Parappully took three sessions of 90 minutes each on the two days. He traced the development and shifts in paradigms, from Dualistic-Mechanistic to the Holistic-Ecological and their impact on spirituality.

The Dualistic-Mechanistic paradigm dominated during the Modern Period, roughly from 1600 to 1950. This is the period in which most currently surviving Catholic religious orders and congregations were founded. He showed how the spirituality of these orders and congregations were influenced by the Dualistic-Mechanistic paradigm prevalent during that period.

Parappully went on the describe the developments in the sciences, especially in Quantum Physics, that undermined the Dualistic-Mechanistic paradigm and which led to the emergence of a new paradigm, namely, the Holistic-Ecological, which is influencing every sphere of life today.

He described 17 characteristics of a spirituality that the changed paradigm calls for. He presented solidarity and communion as the heart of this holistic-ecological-cosmic spirituality.

Participants observed that the workshop had helped to clarify, deepen and expand their understanding of spirituality. It provided them, they said, practical tools to incorporate this new spirituality into their daily lives. They also commented on the excellent quality of the inputs as well as the tools and techniques used in the workshop which made it a very meaningful and exciting experience for them.

The workshop was organised by VM Thomas, the National President of the Conference of Religious of India with the help of the Executive members of the Regional Conference of Religious of the North East.

Parappully will be facilitating another workshop – on Revitalization of Religious Life – for the Major Superiors of the region in September this year.

22nd SUMEDHA SADHANA – AN APPRECIATION

The two month’s “Sumedha Sadhana: A Psychospritual Wholeness Journey” (March 12- May 10) was a wonderfully integrated programme of spirituality and psychology which has enriched and strengthened each member of the group.

The programme brought together the best resource persons. We gained so much from the Stages of psychological development, basic psychological needs, attachment theory, process spirituality, Centering prayer facilitated by Jose Parappully; Jungian Perspectives on Self-Awareness by Ajoy Fernandes; Stories: Ours, Jesus’ and the Universe’s by Gerard Alwarez; and Sexuality, Celibacy and Intimacy by Joe Mannath.

The highlights of the whole programme were Group Therapy, facilitated by Jose Parappully and Peter Lourdes and the spiritual retreat which Parappully guided.

The outings, both the tea by the stream and the picnic to the lakes, were also among the high points of our stay at Sumedha.

We appreciate the thoughtfully prepared and exhaustive handouts that each one of us received which contain a wealth of information which we not only used while at Sumedha but which we can continue to use in future. Besides we were also provided carefully selected books which we could read in order to supplement both the class inputs as well as the reading material we had received. Reflection on movies screened helped us to understand the inputs received in class better.

The liturgies were made prayerful, meaningful, creative and alive through careful preparation. The psychosomatic and dynamic meditations helped integrate body, mind and spirit.

The welcome we received and the care with which our every need was attended to, the minute attention given to things needed in the rooms were remarkable.

With gratitude and love,

The Sumedha Sadhana Group (March 12-May 10, 2013)

GROUP THERAPY, PICNIC AND RETREAT

Group Therapy, one of the most important modules of Sumedha Sadhana, was conducted for 10 consecutive days between April 22 and May 1.

Three 90-minute sessions were held each day. Participants were divided into two groups. One group was led by Peter Lourdes PhD, a psychotherapist based in Kolkata. The other was led by Jose Parappully PhD, the Programme Director at Sumedha Centre.

The day following conclusion of group therapy, participants went together on a picnic to the lakes. They visited three of the famous lakes in the neighbourhood of Sumedha Centre, namely, Naukuchiatal, Bhimtal and Sattal and had great fun.

On May 4 begins the concluding module and the integrative climax of Sumedha Sadhana, namely, the 6-day Spiritual Retreat. It will be facilitated by Jose Parappully.

The next Sumedha Sadhana begins on May 20th an concludes on June 30th.