Retreat: Saturday Circles

Homecoming: A Women's Retreat (back to main Retreats page)

October 3-5, 2008

Kingsley Pines
Saturday Circles
Saturday Circle Offerings

As part of the registration process, you will be asked to select one of the following circle offerings for the morning as well as one for the afternoon. Each circle will be 90 minutes long and will be lead by an experienced instructor or guide. Out of respect to all participants, we ask that women not join a circle after it has begun. The number of women able to attend each circle will most likely not be restricted, we just need a sense of interest in order to accommodate the size of the group. You will want to read through the following circle descriptions and make note of the ones you are interested in prior to registering.

MORNING

JourneyDance™: Dance From Your Heart, Soar As Your Soul

Experience this playful and intuitive method of using movement to discover and celebrate our inner strengths. Using the impulses of music and our own inner impulses, we will be moved to honor the spirit within us as we cleanse our bodies and minds with sweat and breath, laughter and prayer. We will feel our power and aliveness. We will learn to love ourselves. We will find balance and blessings. We will become bright, shining, radiant. Embark on this journey with us as we seek to fully express ourselves as soul. No prior dancing experience necessary.
Leader: Traca Marshall, certified JourneyDance™ instructor

Yoga To Honor The Grace Within

Be welcomed into this sacred gathering place to explore and express your own heart through the ancient art of yoga. Through asanas (postures), pranayama (breathing), dhyana (meditation) and authentic movement, we will delve deep within so that our truths will be revealed and acted upon. Learn to quiet the chattering of the mind and to hear what it is you truly need and desire. Get your juices flowing as you peel back the layers and connect to your heart. Be reminded that we are active participants in creating our life experiences and that we always have a choice. No prior yoga experience necessary. Mats and props will be provided.
Leader: Kara Seymour of Open HeART Space

Woman As Warrior

Come home to yourself as the strong and powerful woman you are. Here is the reminder you are seeking for those moments in life when you feel small: you are more powerful than you realize and are capable of feats of greatness. See yourself as standing tall, feet planted firmly on the ground, eyes keenly focused ahead. You will discover ways in which to move your body and use your voice in the world so your spirit and your body become infused with an inner confidence and outer strength. Be introduced to the warrior woman within you that is a force to be reckoned with. Women of all shapes, sizes and abilities will emerge from this experience with a renewed appreciation and commitment to honoring themselves.
Leader: Clara Porter of Prevention. Action. Change.

Keeping It Simple: Prayer Beads As Meditation

Ever had the desire to meditate but you’re not sure where to begin? Experience the ancient and powerful practice of using beads as a means to quiet our minds and journey within to access the wisdom of your inner-knower, the divine, or whatever else gives you comfort, guidance, and support. Discover how beads can bring a tactile involvement to your practice that can bring focus and direction to your meditation or prayer practice. We will approach meditation as a journey, moving into and through ourselves in a circle, reminding us that this is not a one-time event, nor is it a linear process; we end where we began, and then we begin again. Beads and supplies will be provided during the circle to practice and will also be available to purchase for a small fee.
Leader: Lael Jepson coach and consultant of SheChanges

AFTERNOON

Belly Dance: Reclaiming Your Birthright

As women, we are born with the ability to create, grow, and give birth to powerful things from within our bodies. In many ways, this power that is uniquely ours suggests that each of us contains a potent piece of the universe within our bellies. Come celebrate the skin you’re in and learn this ancient and beautiful expression of women’s power. Move and be moved by the rhythms and curves of your own inner wisdom. Let the place within you that holds the key to the universe guide you in this experience and let it awaken your spirit and body to itself and its fullest expression. Dance with and for the power that lives within you. No prior dance experience needed.
Leader: Jeanne Handy (Jamileh) of Maine BellyDance

Validations: Permission for Self-Love

As women, we are natural cultivators of life, instinctively knowing the right balance of listening, encouraging and allowing. Our light can be a beacon in the dark, illuminating the path for others to follow or it can be a warm glow, offering pools in which to rest and feel safe. What if you lived from your own brilliant light? How would your life be different? Using guided visualization, meditation and imagery we will each turn into our own light and, in doing so will recognize the self that has been there loving you all along. We will feel the freedom that comes with permission. We will explore what it is to live as light, letting who you are and what your life wants to be shine through. We will bask in the warmth and clarity of our own light, and allow our bodies, minds, and hearts to experience the love that grows so freely there.
Leader: Valerie Light, intuitive and writer

Tapping Into Your Inner She-Ra

Maryanne Williamson, in her famous quote, reminded us that “your playing small does not serve the world.” Consider the arenas and circumstances within your life these days in which you feel yourself shrinking – literally or figuratively – and imagine what life would be like if you resisted this urge. What if you were able to easily call upon your inner She-Ra at a moment’s notice when you most needed her? Using your own creative energies, learn how to identify and access that piece of yourself that will enable you to rise up and claim the biggest, most powerful version of yourself. From this powerful place, you will be invited to step into your life in a bigger and bolder way, to examine possible ways of being that will feel more alive, more authentic, and will, ultimately, “serve the world” as you intend.
Leader: Lael Jepson coach and consultant of SheChanges

Writing From Within: Being The Midwife Of Your Own Journey

Using writing as a process, we will be discussing and examining the implications of the classic “hero’s journey” within a feminine context and our own stories as women. This timeless myth about fearlessly leaping off the edge of known to confront the unknown requires us to muster the trust and courage to slay our dragons – those things that can stand between us and our “treasures” or our dreams. With writing as our primary tool, we will begin to identify that which we long to give birth to and, along with way, will discover those places we have to go through (our own dragons) as part of our hero’s journey. We will explore ways in which we, as women, are uniquely suited to this task.
Leader: Nicole Chaison, author and publisher of Hausfrau muthah-zine

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