The world of Ido Portal is one I’ve come to be very familiar with. My journey began back in 2014, when I attended Movement X in Perth after it being recommended to me by a friend. I’ll share more about my initial exposure to Ido’s work in future posts as it has literally changed my life. Having got so much from the experience, I became an online student of The Ido Portal Method in 2015. In 2016 I attended my second Movement X, and in 2017, Motion.

I immersed myself in the Movement Culture by reading blogs and searching for online material, practicing and implementing what the movement events teach, and connecting with others on the same path. Having dedicated so much time to these teachings, it was becoming more and more likely I would be headed to Ido Portal’s Movement Camp.

Movement Camp occurs once a year, and is something I had wanted to experience since I first found out about it. Attending isn’t easy for the average person as each one is held in a different location around the globe. Finding the time off work was difficult enough, and on top of that, the expense of flights, accommodation, and the tutorage itself, always got the better of me. Still determined to experience one of these events, I planned ahead and budgeted for Movement Camp Thailand in early 2017.

With the commencement date of Movement Camp Thailand fast approaching, I was pretty confident I knew what to expect. Don’t get me wrong, I knew with certainty it was going to be hard, but having trained the Ido Portal Method for so long, I felt as though I was prepared for what was going to be thrown my way.

Turns out, I was wrong. It took but 5 minutes into the first session to shatter that illusion. I felt I knew nothing. I felt I had so much to learn.

Each time I had attended an event with Ido Portal, I have been blown away. As Ido says, his events are an experience – something you can only understand by attending and experiencing for yourself. I always walk away from them with more than I could have ever expected.

Looking back, Camp was a lot of work, there was a lot of quality content covered, and it was a massive opportunity for development. During the 7 days, we had over 40 hours of structured physical practice, plus another 9 hours of lectures. Compare that to the typical amount of physical activity one gives themselves a week, and you get a small glimpse into just how much was taken on.

One would think that with so much time spent training and learning, it would be difficult to maintain focus and absorb all the information. But that’s the most interesting aspect of this learning experience. It’s the way principles and concepts are broken down into digestible atoms of information, all piecing together this beautiful puzzle that leaves you with so much and yet longing for more.

There is a level of attention from the students that creates a unique environment, unlike regular classes or workshops one may have attended. The amount of knowledge, both individually and collectively, in the group was, and still is, unrivalled. Every teacher, every class, every minute they taught, had this beautiful ability to be there with complete sincerity. The humility amongst the other students felt like everyone in that room was equal regardless of background, athletic endeavours, or prestige. We were all there with our white belts on ready to learn. To top it all off there is this overarching connection from one class to the next, one teacher to the next, that carefully links everything together.

Amongst the physical practice and learning of Movement Camp there were many additional lessons to take on internally. As always, people will walk away with totally different interpretation of these lessons – that’s a given as we can only ever measure from the circle of our own experience. We are forever limited by this, and should therefore seek to expand, and open the opportunities for, growth. Camp was certainly one of those times for me.

Life is sweet, and how we spend our time moulds who we are, our purpose, and the impact we have on this world. My biggest take home message from camp is to stop wasting time. Do what matters, give it your complete focus and energy, and share your passion with your community.

So much of this life cannot be taught – only learnt. Something I have always struggled with is being able to focus my attention. I take on too much, I am always busy and never present in what I am actually doing. Time spent with family is spent thinking about friends, time with friends is distracted by work, a beautiful day distracted by my ‘feelings’. It is a skill in itself to be able to focus under fatigue, not requiring you to ‘switch on’ for something, but simply to be present all the time for whatever is right there in front of you. Being able to follow a process, a train of thought, a way of being, all the time, all the way to the end. Then realising there is no end, this is it, until whenever. It’s priceless.