THE RAINBOW SEMINAR
Written by Mary Mckeone
From Los Angeles to Bogota and as far afield as New Zealand and Australia, 37 countries, with over seven hundred participants and twenty-two Insight facilitators came together last weekend, to join online in a global seminar of the heart. It was an Insight I with a difference. And what a difference! With different time zones, different languages, different approaches by the facilitators, the Insight team went head on in carrying out its mission statement: to transform the world through loving. And boy did it succeed! As we completed the traditional candlelight ceremony to end the seminar, I could feel in my heart, scrolling through the gallery view on my phone and taking in happy smiling faces from all over the world, a real (rather than virtual) connection with that powerful Global Love.
Over four days, (Thursday, 30th April 2020 to Sunday, May 3rd ) each evening (for those of us on BST time,) lasted four and a half hours with two, twenty-minute breaks. At first, I thought being online the time might drag. How wrong I was. With two facilitators presenting each segment, I found it fascinating to experience the different approaches, the different energies,
the different cultural nuances. Sometimes, the information was presented in English and simultaneously translated into, at least three or four languages. Other times, Spanish or Portuguese. There was a main forum which all seven hundred plus of us joined at various stages as well as a smaller forum from which we were divided up into breakout groups of three or four for specific exercises. It was an amazing technological feat. And yet, it was still the familiar Insight I. As soon as I heard Peer Gynt playing, (the two-minute warning music,) it had me running to my bedroom and throwing myself on the bed, so I was seated when the music stopped. The MC’s for the seminar were Ruth Rochelle (UK facilitator) and Leslie Boyer (an LA facilitator) who did a wonderful job coordinating the logistics, checking in and out at the beginning and end of each session, as well as co-facilitating the smaller forums.
A major theme of this seminar was when we are living from our hearts, there is one energy which we can all plug into, (a bit like the internet,) that gives us self-awareness without judgement, or what can also be called natural knowing. Often, though, we sabotage ourselves by the games we play, taking us out of our hearts, (our internet connection drops off) and into our heads or feelings. Though our minds and emotions can be useful tools in helping us
understand our intentions, it is not who we truly are. David Raynr (a US facilitator) said on Thursday evening, ‘we do not get in life what we want, we get who we are being.’ Who we are being was explored over the next four evenings through the usual Insight I format: sharing, visualizations, and exercises, some of which were cleverly adapted for this shorter
version of the seminar.
None of this is new to me. I have participated and assisted in Insight 1 many times before. But there was something about the lasered approach of this seminar that gave the material a fresh slant. The presentations were fast moving and sitting in my bedroom on the west coast of Ireland, I, again, found myself having ‘aha,’ moments as I took in old information on a deeper level. Time and again, (especially when sharing in the smaller groups,) I was struck by how powerful the interactions were with people who I met for only fifteen or twenty minutes and who I possibly would never meet again. Our honesty and openness was palpable. It was fun, too. Shouting at a muted screen and waving my arms around in answer to what I wanted more of in my life, might have seemed crazy to my husband and daughter but I was having a whale of a time. And the dancing continued with an energetic virtual disco on Saturday night.
The amount of time, energy and effort that went into creating this seminar was enormous. So many people were involved, from facilitators and co-facilitators (some of whom had never even met before) to the technical team to translators. And all for $20. It was a true act of giving. When on Sunday night, someone texted Ruth to say we have broken down the walls around the Covid-19 lockdown, Ruth agreed adding, she hoped: ‘that we have also broken down some of the walls around our hearts.’ I think I probably speak for everyone when I say, ‘we most certainly have!’ Thank you, Insight.
To learn more about Insight, visit www.insightseminars.org
