Escape everyday stress in the monastery

Escape everyday stress in the monastery

24/12/2014

In our often hectic and noisy life, many people feel a strong yearning for silence. To escape the stress and to come to rest, there are various possibilities. An alternative is the monastery: There you can escape the stress of everyday life through days of silence and meditation.

Monasteries attract stress sufferers
Pilgrims or hikers used to knock at the monastery gates. Today, behind the thick walls, people flee from the treadmill of hectic rush, noise and pressure to perform. There they can flourish again at hourly prayers, silent days and meditation. As the news agency dpa reports, the Protestant monasteries in Lower Saxony are also attracting more and more stress sufferers. Kristina Weidelhofer, spokeswoman for the Klosterkammer Hannover, told the agency: „The monastery is considered a sanctuary to come in contact with yourself and let the stunted soul to flourish again.“

„The demand is huge“
The chamber manages numerous church properties in Lower Saxony, which also includes 17 Protestant monasteries and pens. Of these, 15 are female communities with abbesses, conventuals or capitulars. The Gethsemane monastery Riechenberg (Goslar) has leased the monastery chamber to a male communion and the monastery Bursfelde (district of Göttingen) serves the regional church as a spiritual center. „Each monastery has its own profile. There is something for every seeker“, so Weidelhofer. According to the information, some houses open to the public only for guided tours, others offer seminars, concerts and retreats. „The demand is huge“, Gabriele-Verena Siemers, abbess of Wennigsen Monastery near Hannover. „We can not take in all the people who request us.“ In Wennigsen the open meditation evenings and the dancing of the Christmas Oratorio are the big hit. Most of the participants are female.

Archery for men
„People find in the monastery something they can not find in ordinary worship“, says the Göttingen theologian Joachim Ringleben. „There are many people who want to retire for a week. It is a good alternative to stress.“The Stift Börstel in the district of Osnabrück relies on active and outdoor offers. „The most popular offer is archery“, explained the abbess Britta Rook. Here are the men in the majority. Also new ideas like the meditative spinning would be well received. It was also reported that the demand for entry to the monastery is different. Interested parties should be single, ie single, divorced or widowed.

Only a few suitable for monastic life
„With the offspring it is difficult. There are always men who want to live for a time. But few are looking for a step into liability“, shared Achim Gilbert, Prior of the Gethsemaneklosters (Goslar) the dpa with. In Wennigsen, however, it says: „We do not have junior worries.“ As in Börstel there is no Residenzpflicht. In addition, Börstel has been mixed with Catholic and Protestant women for 400 years. „We have a lot of applications. But 80 percent are not suitable at all“, so rook. Mental and physical health is a condition of admission. „We take up to two years time. We are mainly younger, preferably no more than 60.“ People who put less or no value on religious or spiritual reflection, have a number of other ways to escape the stress of everyday life. For example, some stress-relief relaxation exercises, such as yoga or autogenic training, are not only at home in the quiet home, but also with others in special groups that exist in many cities. (Ad)