RUAH

The Ruah Vision

 

 

May we stay strong and persevering,

Courageous and wholehearted in our vision.

May this journey be kept free from all harm,

filled only with love,

belonging and a new incarnation of God’s beautiful presence.

May love be stronger than fear. Light stronger than shadows.

May we have eyes to see the face of Christ before us.

May we always have the breeze of the

‘Ruah Spirit’

blowing our hearts wide open to

endless love.

​

(Written by Fr. Daniel O' Leary For the opening of Ruah, 2017)

 

 

Our Ruah vision is to create a unique, contemporary  model of  Christian
Contemplative  Living.  We do this through our home based Christian Community and also online and through many outreach programmes.

Each of the following are integral to how we live and what we offer; 
​
Christian Mindfulness and Contemplative Prayer
 
​We draw from the spirituality of the early Desert and Celtic Christian Mystics, integrating it with today’s learnings in mindfulness, neuroscience
and psychology. We commit to, and assist others in creating  deliberate mindful pauses in the midst of today’s ‘plugged –in and full on’ pace of life. 
Our programmes help people to Live in the Presence, in the Moment, where deliberate pauses are created for stillness, gratitude;  and a savouring of the  simple gifts that life is offering.
 
Today’s seekers are searching for a  body- mind-spirit integration, a connection that creates a visceral fire in the belly. Lectio Divina which is a
sacred reflecting on scripture is something we share on line and regularly in our home.
​
Care of the Earth
                                   
When our understanding of evolution is linear, where human beings are placed superiorly at the pinnacle, we tend to cut off from a compassionate relationship with all of creation. In Ruah we strive to widen our circle of care  to extend to all of creation because  at  the very heart of the universe is the movement of inter-relational  community; we are all impacting on 
one another through  our interconnection in  the  awesome web of life.  
 
Stress Release
 
Society  places  a high emphasis on productivity and  advancement. While this is  good in many ways, this constant striving can encourage mind-
states  of craving and perpetual disquiet. Consequently, many are  now searching for mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing and balance.  If we habitually live  in a  state of  excessive mental activity, striving  or reactivity,  we build up  stress in mind and body.  

​

We have devised many programmes around the theme of dealing with stress, burnout, grief etc. We also bring many of these concepts into our
programmes on holistic leadership.
 
​Community
 
The idea of a Domestic Dwelling as faith community is not a modern concept, but reflects the earliest form in which the Christian Church
emerged. We seek, therefore, to make community and hospitality the primary characteristic and central  vision beating in the heart  of  Ruah.  
 

Our growing On line Community has flourished over the past few years.
 
Spiritual Direction, Retreats and Counselling

Discovering and living from the true self   is a journey of continual growth, healing  and letting go.   If we are to find harmony  with others, we have to journey compassionately with the shadow and  split- off parts of ourselves. We often  discover that there are  shimmering gems hidden in the rubble  of the shadow self and when we excavate them, we are fuller human beings.  When we   practice  compassionate acceptance rather than feverish perfectionism (easier said than done) healing can emerge.

The theme of healing & compassion are foundational to all of our programmes.  We offer Directed Retreats (On line and in person). We also offer regular afternoons, day retreats and six day creative retreats. These are offered online and also at venues nationally and internationally.