This week has a very interesting astrology with last Thursday June 8th having really important significance. Five major planets lined up to create a Grand Cross in the sky. This process started with a key moment at 5.34pm London time Thursday 8th June. Derek Hawkins*, the astrologer who shared this with us says this alignment will have an influence over the coming weeks. The energy prevailing from this line-up makes it a very special time to connect with people with whom you might shares values at the deepest level and who resonate with your highest purpose. For years now many of us have been working independently on issues and projects that have the potential to create a better world. We have invested energy into causes that resonate with our life purpose and vision. At times this may have been an isolated and lonely track. Not now. This alignment supports connection for people working from higher purpose and values. It is probably best expressed as "Your time has come" and "Now is the time". I think this description certainly fits for women as the signs seem to be that the world is ready for the influence of the sacred feminine, the goddess energy, and those feminine principles of collaboration, community, caring, nurturing and intuition so needing greater expression in business and our world today.

The countryside around here is breathtaking and I feel so blessed to spend time in a place of great beauty and healing. The design of the garden comes from the inspired ideas of my partner Morel and it is wonderful to see it unfold as the summer goes by. He has somehow co-created a divine garden plan with nature. In just a week the lawn has miraculously become a buttercup and daisy meadow! Each week brings new surprises and delights. Our home and garden are magical and they seem to draw extraordinary groups of people together. Join us on this summer's retreat, see what can unfold for you and who you might connect with!

A few of our retreat alumni gathered in Manchester earlier this month to support Vivienne's brave new venture. It was absolutely brilliant. It's hard to describe but if pushed I'd say a cross between Joyce Grenfell and Victoria Wood! Vivienne presented her personal life story with the aid of music and movies in a theatre and shared the insights that came when she struggled to come to terms with having everything she thought she had dreamed of - except happiness! In describing her funny and painful journey back to wholeness and her vision, she gave us her life-affirming tips for creating a Perfect Day. By allowing us into her world we were able to relive our own story and learn more about where we could take our lives. Bravo Vivienne!

Susan joined us on the March Spring Retreat and it was lovely to meet up with her again at Be The Change conference in London. She was very excited about how life had unfolded after our weekend. She said, "It has been truly amazing what has happened since your wonderful women's workshop. It feels as if there has been a real shift. I have done SOOOOO much de-cluttering and feel much better for it. Within ten days of returning from your space I was introduced to a gorgeous guy very like-minded and in touch with both his feminine side and also his inner child. For sure it feels that fun times are ahead. I also feel so much clearer about my purpose and thank you for that. The work is really flowing with a lot of positive enquiries. Looking forward to your next workshop. Many, many thanks and heartfelt gratitude. Susan Ainscough - Education consultant & yoga teacher BWY."

I met up with Rosjke Hasseldine at Vivienne's Show. We first connected at the Women's Retreat I co-hosted at the Brahma Kumaris Global Retreat Centre in Oxford last September. It was a fabulous leadership retreat for women and Rosjke shared how pivotal that weekend had been for her. "It was life-changing" she says. "What I took away was a real belief that I AM powerful and that it was simply up to ME to fully claim the vision I had already had and just make it reality. There was nothing else to wait for! I reconnected strongly with my purpose which is to empower women to know themselves and to explore the mother/daughter relationship so they can know each other and communicate better." Following her insights from that extraordinary gathering, Rosjke has launched her website The Silent Female Scream together with a series of workshops and her book is about to be published. "Everything seemed to come together after my experience on that weekend particularly when I connected with the woman who was to coach me in crystallizing my book!." It is amazing what a group of women can help each other bring forth into the world!

Here I am pictured with Lynne Franks (my co-host from the BK retreat last autumn) who was speaking at the launch of the Just-a-Minute campaign by the Brahma Kumaris in London last month. The BKs are launching a campaign to encourage people to take "just a minute" of silence, each hour throughout the day in order to get re-centred and connect with our peaceful nature within. It's a wonderful de-stressing technique and magical things start to happen when we take those small moments to STOP and connect with our inner wisdom. The BKs are organising a huge event at Wembley on September 17th with three remarkable yogi women who have the combined power of 200 years of spiritual study and meditation. Dadi Janki will be outlining the campaign at a private meeting on June 21st in London. If you think you'd like to help network this free event then email me for an invite. (I will be providing more details as time goes on).

Even after 10 years of living in the countryside I still marvel at the rhythms of nature and country life. We had a good spell of weather so the neighbouring farmer was out bringing in the hay this week. Talk about making hay while the sun shone on Friday! The hay cutting team were working all day right through til after midnight under the light of the full moon (and a few bright headlights). The fields look golden now and the pattern across the valley is sheer beauty.