I was ordained at Akashavana in 2019. I live in Krakow/Poland. I live on my own renting a small flat near the river and our Buddhist Centre. I am working for the Buddhist Centre as a Centre manager so my life is mostly focused around the sangha, working closely with my centre team, creating conditions for the centre to grow, and supporting the women's wing in Poland. At the moment I am spending quite a bit of my time sitting in front of the computer, meeting on zoom and leading online classes but also meeting with people on walks by the river in Krakow or hiking in the mountains every now and then. This is now possible in our country. I also visit my family from time to time who live 2 hours drive from Krakow. 

Morning meditation starts my day and thanks to the availability of online retreats I take part in them connecting with the sangha worldwide. I sometimes dance at home in the evenings to the songs that inspire me in the present moment when no one can see me ;)

It has been a challenging year but there were some positive sides of it too. Beginning of the pandemic was quite scary but the first couple of weeks enabled me to slow down and stop some activities which was very pleasurable and insightful. Then very quickly at our centre we decided to run online classes and we all became very busy with that, planning the programme, learning fast new skills, finding new ways of staying connected with the sangha locally. So in a way life continued in it's own, new, weird, busy way – online. I remember from that time how much I missed being out amongst the trees, green grass, flowers, I missed the nature.

The most positive outcome was to see how interconnected we are as a sangha and that did not stop even with the pandemic. We all experienced benefits of connecting with the sangha worldwide which in a way was a blessing of  that strange time. I got a lot from it. I can not imagine where would I be without it really. I remember reflecting at some point on my ordination, I was only few months old, seeing the strength of my practice coming from that commitment and the support that that gave me to be with the suffering both of my own and of others. I felt so much gratitude. Locally our sangha grew in the pandemic and the bonds between us became stronger. We needed one another and that helped us to survive.

My Dharma life has changed in the way that in the past I would travel few times a year to stay with my sangha friends in UK and participate in retreats. Now it has been replaced by more zoom and online retreats. This works and keeps my Dharma practice going but obviously I miss seeing my friends.

See all posts on marking International Women's Day 2021