On 11 April, I'll start my three month retreat in the Spanish mountains at Akashavana, the women's retreat centre in Spain where I'll be ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order. On 1 April, in the Norwich Buddhist Centre shrine room, with a group of friends, I shaved my head.

I donated my hair to The Little Princess Trust, a charity which provides real hair wigs to boys and girls who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment.

You've clicked on this page because you'd like your donation to go to Akashavana, the women's retreat centre in Spain. Thank you! You can also donate to The Little Princess Trust here: https://www.justgiving.com/Andrea-going-for-refuge/

In 2010, before I'd asked to be ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order or even really knew what that meant, my friend left for her ordination course in the Spanish mountains and came back with a new name. She shaved her head before she left, and since then I've known I'm going to shave my head before leaving on my retreat, leaving everything of my old self at the bottom of the mountain.

I’m committing to the Buddhist path by taking a symbolic step away from vanity (hence the shaved head), from material comforts (hence the basic-ness of the lifestyle), and from worldly relationships (I won’t talk to or hear from my husband for three months!).

And then I’ll come back. I’ll come back to all these things. I’m not saying I don’t love my hair, or my flat, or my husband. But I’m taking this opportunity to experience myself away from them, to not identify myself by looks or status or love. So that when things change in this life (and they always have), when suffering arises (and it always does), when boundaries fade (and they always will), not only will I continue to practice - I’ll be freer for it.