[Pedro the Fisherman]

The evening meal was fantastic, I sat between to a guy (one of the helpers) and a very large lady from Norfolk. She had attended an afternoon taster HAI session in London the previous year whilst staying with friends. She told me she'd spent the past 20 years caring for her elderly parents and now they were in a care home, she was free to find herself! I thought she sounded in a similar position to J* at CR, but at least twice the weight! She had a nice smile and I thought very brave to come along. The guy left early to help prepare the “room of love" that would be the centre of the weekend and I could now talk to the gorgeous lady who had sat next to him. She was in her 40s and had the face and figure of a girl in her 20s. I tried to open a conversation about being a first time and feeling nervous. She replied “I've nearly ran out twice so far and we've only just had a meal!”. I tried to relax her and said “I've been told you never do anything you don't want to or feel uncomfortable with". She smiled, but I don't think it helped much.

I was quite turned on looking around the dining table, wondering how many of the twenty odd ladies assembled here were feeling the same as this lady. In the next 18 hours, many of them will willingly disrobe in front of me (and 20 odd other guys) and expose themselves physically and emotionally for the next day and half. I mused that if most had my inside information sheet, they would probably run away before breakfast!

Most ladies (and men) were between 35 and 55 years of age, with the exception of one couple (early 20s) and one couple who were helpers), everyone seemed to be single or they were attending here alone, anyway! I (at 55) was in the older group, however there were two or three people over 60, but not many. Apart from the couple (new age hippy types) most people were very normal, but with the sort of attitude to be a little alternative, without being whacky. I scanned the room and homed in on two very attractive ladies who stood out in my eyes. I would try and place myself nearby them when it would come to finding partners for day 2 exercises and was aware of a growing erection, just fanaticising about what might happen. The ladies had stunning eyes, great facial bone structure and wore clothes that really looked stylish, despite being loose fitting, which we had all been told to wear by the organisers. One was about 40, had shoulder length blonde hair and had a slightly cuddly body, from what I could see. The other was younger, had boyish short black hair and seemed to be very slim and athletic. The blonde looked familiar to me, but I couldn't place where I might have seen her before.

I was mulling this over when a gong sounded, “please make your way to the ‘room of love’ please” said a voice at the doorway. We all stood and shuffled towards the door to the hallway. As we were about to enter, another helper advised us “please leave all footwear outside, only bare feet are allowed in the room of love, so we all connect with the room, skin to floor". We all kicked off our shoes and lined them up carefully. In front of us was a large space, cushions scattered around. I had noticed a few people with a portable backrest, in a corner I now saw a group of about twenty more of these.

We were told to find a space on the floor after helping ourselves to a mat or cushion first. Once we were all seated, a helper announced the evening's schedule. He also added that back rests were available for a £5 donation to HAI as we might well need them over the weekend, specially if we did not practise meditation or yoga! I did neither, so bagged one! The demand outstretched supply, so others would be found for tomorrow. Those of us with them were told to stick our name badges on them, so we could find them each day.