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Theme:
"Be
A Master Player"
The 2007 Blue Star International Youth Retreat
“kicked off” with
an exciting opening day.
Susanna
and Pranavi share some hatha yoga postures with the youths
Susanna of Trinidad
and Pranavi of Holland started the retreat’s programs
with breathing exercises and Hatha yoga.
They explained the importance of breathing and yoga for
control of mind and emotions, as well as developing strength
and flexibility of the physical body.
Sri Vasudeva speaks to the youths on being A Master Player
Sri
Vasudeva opened the retreat with a stimulating talk about
“Be A Master Player”
Sri
Vasudeva challenged the group to remember what he said earlier
in the day, emphasizing the importance of attentiveness
and truly listening. He stressed the empowering nature of
being an adventurer, not a victim, in life. The power of
thoughts, emotions, intellect and memory were discussed
followed by exercises in memory, establishing relationships
and speaking in the presence.
The Youths demonstrates the art of being
a Master Player
Jetty demonstrates the art of Drama
Jetty
from Holland was a true gift to the retreat. She co-created
an inspiring afternoon using “Drama in Life”,
which included the use of body, mind and emotions
in some hilarious role-playing activities.
The Blue Star Youth Retreat, “Be A Master Player”,
continues throughout the week with many motivational
speakers, activities, and an exciting outing for a
hike to Covigne Falls.
The second day
of the Youth Camp started with the inspiring words
of Sri Vasudeva who spoke again of the power of
presence in both speaking and listening. He demonstrated
this skill while he spoke and congratulated the
group on their improved and empowering listening
abilities.
Sri Vasudeva speaks to the youths on the Power of Presence
Guest
speaker Nishad Mohammed focused on the development
of self-esteem and relationships. In his approach,
he used interactive games which required meeting
and getting to know other camp members and sharing
the experience with the group.
Nishad Mohammed observes the youths in
their interactive game session
The next guest
speaker, Ravi Lutchman, emphasized the subject of goal
setting and the difference between wishes and goals.
He engaged the retreat members with an exciting game
which required a group to walk together with 8 legs
and no more than 5 hands. This activity developed group
co-creation as well as goal setting capabilities.
Enjoying the session of walking on
hands
The youths are really enjoying themselves
Sri
Vasudeva ended the morning session with a beautiful
meditation on creating inner peace and expanding
that peace to outer surroundings.
Sri Vasudeva guides the youths in
meditation
The
afternoon segment of the Youth Retreat was a huge hit
with guest speaker Kenwin Purcell of the Trinidad and
Tobago Police Department.
Kenwin Purcel is enjoying his session
with the youths
Kenwin's
dynamic personality and unique style had everyone
laughing and enjoying the topic of creative problem
solving using activities such as human tic-tac-toe
and drawing
Youths participating in Kenwin's
session
Everyone
rated Day 2 between a 7 and a 10+ and looked forward
to what the rest of the retreat would offer.
Day 3
the hike at Covigne Falls with Sri Vasudeva and the
members of the
2007 Blue Star Youth Retreat!
***
Day 3 of the Youth Retreat found everyone preparing
for a hike along the Covigne River in Trinidad’s
Northern Range. The outing was blessed by the addition
of Sri Vasudeva who led the group in an opening prayer.
Sri Vasudeva led the group in
prayer
The group of 50 gathered at the start of the trail
where our wonderful guides (Mervyn Alleyne and Sheldon
of the Chaguaramas Development Authority) informed
us that we would be getting very wet on this hike
as well as encountering various obstacles to challenge
us along the way
The group gathered for the start of
the hike
...our
first stop was a very pleasant grove of nutmeg
trees which included this huge Ficus tree.
Sri Vasudeva stands at the nutmeg tree
Next, we began to hike up the actual river bed
where we soon learned it was easier to wade through
the water than to try to walk on the slippery
rocks.
Hiking along the river bed
Among the
trees and shrubs of the forest were coffee and
cocoa from the plantation days of the area. Sri
Vasudeva enjoyed the fruit of a cocoa pod which
is a sweet coating around the seed rather than
the chocolate base that comes from the inside
of the roasted seeds.
Sri Vasudeva enjoys the cocoa fruit
One of our challenges included wading through
narrow gorges with waist deep water at several
points along the river.
Hiking through the narrow gorges
These ‘bottlenecks’
gave hikers ample opportunities for rest and preparation
for the challenges ahead.
Its rest time
Portions
of the trail led through beautiful forest which
required climbing over fallen trees as well as under
them.
 
Being challenged on the hike
The entire group was amazing as they all made
their way through the boulders of the river with
every one helping each other along the trail.
 
Enjoying the challenges
The most
amazing (and challenging) part of the hike was
climbing a rope up a steep waterfall.
The challenges just keep coming
This
is where everyone helped and cheered each other
on as we EVERYONE (all 50 of us!) made it up
the falls.
It is very challenging....
Just after
the falls, there was a final climb to a pool
where even Sri Vasudeva took a dip, enjoying
the special energy of the place.
Sri Vasudeva enjoys a dip in the pool
After hiking
all the way back through a thunderstorm, our thoroughly
soaked, but satisfied group prepared to return
to the Blue Star Centre in Claxton Bay, Trinidad.
"We made it..."
It was
truly a trip of accomplishments, facing challenges
and teamwork.
A true spiritual journey in “Becoming
a Master Player”.
Next…. The Youth Retreat 2007 continues at the
Blue Star Centre with Day 4.
Day 4 of the Youth Camp found everyone
quite energized from the previous day's hike.
Vijay, the coordinator, welcomed everyone to an exciting
day ahead.
Vijay speaks to the youths
The
first program was hatha yoga with Susanna and Pranavi, who
challenged the group with postures such as eagle pose, standing
bow and a series of sun salutations
Susanna (blue) guides the youths in the
Eagle Yoga Posture
Pranavi demonstrates another Yoga Posture
- Standing Bow
The youths are guided in doing the "Surya
Namaskar"
Our first guest speaker, Selvyn
Lewis, led an activity-filled morning based on self-analysis
from an individual and societal viewpoint. Although
the topic seems a bit deep, it was presented with
humorous games designed to discover one's strengths
and weaknesses and why one should not judge others
by their appearances. Card games were used to see
how people think and view life (‘in and out
of the box’)
Guest speaker Selvyn Lewis demonstrates
his presentation through card game
“The
Human Knot tested non verbal skills while showing
the importance of body language in communicating
 
The youths are enjoying their session
with Selvyn Lewis
Selvyn
found the energy of the group and Centre wonderful
and stated that it wouldn't have been that way if
Sri Vasudeva wasn't an out of the box thinker.
Sri Vasudeva joined the group to share his views of
the hike and the challenges all had faced and overcome
together.
Sri Vasudeva speaks to the youths
He
mentioned how the beautiful setting in nature was
energizing and that the group had been energized by
the activity. He shared that he had even enjoyed slipping
and falling with everyone as it made him feel youthful.
Sharing a fun moment together
Sri
Vasudeva then took the group into a meditation focusing
on inner and outer peace.
Guided Meditation
After lunch, the afternoon
was filled with the games of fun-loving guest Peter
Kelly who returned by special request for his third
year at the Blue Star Youth Retreat.
Speaker, Peter Kelly
Peter
used ‘Life as a drama” as his theme
with activities focused on building self-confidence
in one’s self and others.
These activities included teamwork while blindfolded
Peter kelly observes the youths blindfolded
The favorite
of the day: a hula hoop scavenger hunt
 
 
Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves
Peter
Kelly ended his program with the great advice: “I
hope you will take what you have learned here today
and use it. Share it. Be a light…and share
your light. Light another's light.”
The end of another beautiful day
The Youth Retreat's fourth day closed
with a prayer and a great deal of camaraderie.
All looked forward
to Day 5 and what it would bring to all involved.
The
final day, Day 5 of the youth camp began with
Sri Vasudeva giving a wonderful talk on the
growth he has seen within the group and his
hope they would take what they learned with
them. He
shared his goal of them all doing their best
and giving their all in all that they do (including
the next youth retreat).
Sri Vasudeva speaks to the youths
The morning continued
with Hatha yoga taught by Susanna and Pranavi.
This included Suriya Namaskars (Sun Salutations)
which the group had practiced all week and were
getting quite good at.
It is Yoga time...
Motivational guest speaker,
Don La Foucade, built on the camp's theme,
Be a Master Player, by focusing on coping
in life, not dropping your standards and communicating
in an effective way.
Don La Foucade speaks to the youths
He
spoke of not taking life for granted and to
seize the moment as he illustrated showing
a dance move to one of the youths.
Demonstrating a dance movement
After lunch, the afternoon
was devoted to preparing for the closing program
which was a lot of fun for all.
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Preparing for the afternoon program
The
program began with interfaith opening prayers.
Opening the program with interfaith prayer
This was followed by a
drama based on the idea of learning from each
other which had the whole crowd laughing.
 
Drama in session
Next,
was a slide show describing what happened during
the camp and what was learned.
Slide show
Then
a number of youths spoke individually about
aspects of the camp and what they took from
the experience.
Sharing their experiences
A
very talented group of musicians and singers
performed The Blue Star Song - "We can
make a difference..." with original,
added lyrics.
Song - "We can make a difference..."
Sri
Vasudeva then gave a talk regarding how pleased
he was with the growth he witnessed during
the week, but that since he was there to guide
them, he would push them to do even better.
Sri Vasudeva shared some guidelines with the youths
Finally, Sri Vasudeva congratulated the Blue
Star Youth Retreat Coordinator, Vijay, for
a job well done
"Thank you Vijay..."
Sri
Vasudeva closed the camp with a prayer. Everyone
was very pleased with this year's retreat
and wished it could have lasted 2 weeks! Many
new friendships developed and bonds were formed
between local and international youths. We
all look forward to 2008!
Giving thanks in prayer
(Bact
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