I was intrigued when I heard about this seminar and enrolled; after all, who would not want to learn more about increased happiness in one's life? Our group of 12 participants was a mixed lot of people with a mixed bag of expectations, but one general goal: to be shown a way that will lead to a more rewarding existence.

The sessions began with Yasha explaining, that he would be only the tool rather than the teacher, and that Spirit would do almost all of the teaching through him. After he had explained us some of the 'basics' of the universe and our lives on earth, he gave us ample chances to ask questions. We discussed Jesus and the Essene people, we talked about live on other planets, about Einstein, why we are here on Earth in Human form and that God is the unconditional love surrounding us in his all encompassing embrace. And that was only the first evening! Needless to say, that night I fell into bed, exhausted and satiated, but also excited and very curious.

The next days then brought a well-balanced mix of talks from Spirit, chances to ask questions, meditation and physical exercises.
In our first meditation exercise Yasha led us to quieten our minds and bodies. Then we imagined on our right hand a bird of our choice, we 'looked' at it, observed it, and gave it a name. Then, without speaking and still with closed eyes, we 'took' our left neighbor's bird and set it on our own shoulder while at the same time passing on our own bird. To me that exercise was an illustration of two things: first that with quiet and peace I could indeed call in front of my mind's eye a bird and get to know it (By the way, just imagine: if my mind can create a bird during this little exercise, what else it can create!). Secondly, that with some practice and guidance even I can learn to become aware that we are all part of a whole - and able to get in touch with each other (well, at least I did correctly identify my neighbor's bird as a parrot).

After this, learning took off: Yasha and Spirit presented us the four basic fears all of us humans bring along into this world. We learned to recognize that if a decision feels difficult it is always due to one or more of those fears ruling our thoughts and emotions. Most importantly Yasha and Spirit shared with us the five steps we can take to accept those fears and deal with them rather than fight or ignore them - five steps that are beautiful in their simplicity and which we can apply in our daily lives.

We were then introduced to the Seven Bridges of Christ Consciousness. They are an amazing tool to connect more fully to others and ourselves and the divine in us all. And that is when the whole course got really active: The Essene people knew about these seven bridges and used certain physical exercises to find and reinforce each of them. The bridge of commitment, for example, is associated with stretching exercises of your legs as you are lying on the ground, which started out quite harmless. For me it gained in meaning as time passed. I felt really 'stretched' and still Yasha urged us to continue our efforts. After all, did we make a commitment to lead our lives differently or not? The exercises for the bridge of compassion were the ones that were hardest for me. Not because of my lack of physical fitness (of which not much is required really in this seminar), but because of my reluctance to have compassion with myself. However, compassion touched me gently on that day, when my tears started flowing during the associated stretch of the back (which in itself actually feels pretty good).

And on it went for the rest of the weekend. Yasha and Spirit always gently challenging, lovingly explaining, patiently showing us to see the application to our own lives and compassionately helping us to accept as well as understand.
We listened and were encouraged by beautiful, wise and often humorous stories. We were challenged by Spirit to accept that there is only one truth: love. That the path of the truth is dynamic like a stream: sometimes it rushes, sometimes it meanders, sometimes it hits the banks, sometimes it is turbulent and sometimes it quietly flows on. However, it feels at any given moment, we cannot hold it still.
We learned about meditation and contemplation, their importance in our lives and practiced several techniques. Finally the misconceptions some of us held about these practices became clear to us. (I for one had unrealistic expectations of what I should achieve and overlooked the importance of the quiet moments of peace I could reach).

During the weekend I went through a multitude of experiences, feelings and thoughts - love being the most prominent feeling, and the practical implications for my daily life the most profound experience.

Do I now lead a more fulfilled and happy life? Well, that won't happen after just a weekend, but I now have a direction, practical tools and encouragement to reach this goal - and that is more than I ever found on my search so far!