You Can Repair And Restore

Through travel, writer Susan Barrett learnt that healing doesn't have to be hard work. It can be playful too.

- Susan Barrett

I've always thought of healing as a really serious business.

Sodden tissues, tjoepstil meditations (and scratch that nose itch to your detriment!) kinda stuff. But a recent sojourn at Kamala House Karoo Retreat made me realise that, yes, while the inner work is serious, the way you go about it doesn't have to be. From waking to the tinkling of chimes as owner Terry de Vries flows down the passage with your cleansing cup of lemon water, expectant as a kid on Christmas morning, to creatively coming together at communal dinners, Kamala House makes the healing journey a joyous one to travel.

So, instead of digging up my childhood trauma using the Blood, Sweat, Tears Method, I simply let my inner child take the reins as she explored a labyrinth, dipped her toe in a sound bath, skipped along on a silent meditation walk, breathed loudly and deeply into her lungs without embarrassment and laughed straight from the heart.

If adulting has stolen your sparkle, try one of these playful healing therapies:

1. Something weighing on your mind? Walk a labyrinth.