The Integral Education Retreat (IER) was conducted on 26 June 2005. It was the day before the schools in Singapore re-opened after a long break of four weeks. We went ahead with our plans and anticipated eagerly the arrival of the children who had signed up for this retreat. The aim of the retreat was to offer the children a rough sampling of what the year-long Integral Education Programme would be like, so that this experience would help them decide if they wanted to make that year-long commitment. Seven children between the ages of 8 and 11 chose to enter the premises of our centre, taking part in the programme that stretched from 8.00am to 5.00pm. The children who attended the session were Shaktivel, Shubashree, Nandan, Vishnu, Jehan, Keethanjali and Akila. Though shy to begin with, the seven children gelled well in the course of the day and parted as good friends.

There was lots of play that worked itself into the programme. We started with physical education. Before leaving the room into the open, the children formed two teams and together appointed a team captain, worked out a team name, 3 team rules and created an identification mark for themselves - something they chose to draw onto their limbs.

The first team game we had was crossing the river. The team had to, without setting their foot on the ground, cross the river to the opposite bank without losing even one team member to the "waters". Their boat was made of chairs. There was much excitement and heat created initially. However, a concentration fired on by the urge to reach the bank intact, ruled the final course of the journey.

The next team game was a round of Captain's Ball. Following the games, facilitators, and children sat on the ground to talk candidly about experiences. The children were able to point out merits of their behaviour, which helped them to win or cross the river in one whole. Concentration was identified as a key factor in getting them across. The children were also able to identify aspects of their behaviour that could have contributed to conflicts. The children were complimented on their team spirit and their attempts to break barriers. Bravo to the little warriors! In the teams were facilitators Kiruthika, Swati and Lakshmi who added richness into the existing scheme of things. They played alongside the kids, becoming their playmates, guides and mentors and competitors all rolled into one. For one watching the scene from the sidelines, it was an unforgettable experience.

At about 11.30am, we returned to the cool comfort of the Room. Swati started with an activity based on the STROOP effect and demonstrated to the children about conditioning and how we make obvious mistakes in reading and colour recognition as the brain tries to recognize colours on words. For example, the word RED is coloured green and the children were asked to say out the colour and not what the words read.

Lakshmi brought the children through the creation of caricatures. Moods were discussed and how these could be translated onto drawings. This activity required pupils think about moods and hopefully look at their own variety of moods and how these would reflect on a caricature. Children had great fun drawing and most of them probably discovered a hidden artist in them.

Kiruthika and the other facilitators carried out some mental activities following the drawing session. The need for concentration was discussed and some concentration exercises were carried out using number counting and reverse counting. Children were also shown certain pictures and asked to look for other embedded pictures within the bigger pictures. These exercises were meant to stretch the mental muscle of children as they were challenged with activities they do not normally carry out in their day-to-day lives. It is hoped that thinking differently will be celebrated as well as challenging assumptions of the surface self.

Much to the children's delight, another bout of physical activities ensued, with Nisha taking on Yoga lessons, introducing the children to asanas. Breathing was highlighted and so too relaxation. Nisha pointed out the merits of each asana to the children. The children showed a keen interest in the asanas.

Last of all, just past 4.00pm, we turned our attention onto the word "psychic". The children were gathered in a circle and they were silent. We discussed some human qualities that bring us closer to the psychic more than others. Once again, we highlighted the qualities of "Truth", "Goodness" and "Beauty" and ended the session with a short meditation.

The group of children and facilitators had been together for about 8 hours. A bond was established during the course of the day and we parted as people who had known one another for a long time. Each child was given a stalk of carnation flowers and a candle, which was to be lighted and kept in a special place of their own choice.

We sent off the children with smiles on our faces. Each facilitator harboured the hope that each one of the children would return for the IEP collaboration.

OM NAMO BHAGAVATHE SRI ARAVINDAYA SHARANAM MAMA

- Jayanthy