So spring retreat…always a glorious time to visit Seattle with bursting blossoms…is not happening in Seattle this year.
Except virtually, it IS happening. Yes, we can do this.
For those interested in doing The Work as an immersion together online, this is going to be fun.
We’re meeting twice on Thursday 5/14 and again Friday 5/15, and once on Saturday 5/16, and once on Sunday 5/17. You can enroll in the full retreat, which include all of the six half-day segments from May 14-17 ($295) and receive 21 hours of CEUs for mental health practitioners.
Or, you can sign up for any of the segments you’re able to attend, based on your time zone, interest, schedule. Each 3.5 hour segment we’ll have a 20 min break in the middle at a natural pause place in our time together. One half-day segment is $60. (CEUs are only offered if you enroll in the entire retreat).
To read more about the schedule, match it up with your time zone to see what’s possible for you, and sign up for either the entire retreat, or one or more of the six “segments”, visit here.
I’m so looking forward to the gathering that will happen. A time of spring mental cleaning.
And boy howdy, many of us have felt very inspired to clean lately, whether physically or mentally or emotionally.
This past weekend, I put away my computer and anything screen-ish on Saturday and spent 7 hours completely emptying a dresser, recycling old papers, making a stack of important tax documents, dusting (wow, those high-up bookshelf corners way in the back, just saying), sweeping and scrubbing.
It was so incredibly satisfying.
Out with the old. Making a new light space.
This kind of cleaning is possible every single day when we use self-inquiry with our stories and perceptions about living in this world, relating to others, remaining safe, being creative, finding support, fearing the future.
We practice noticing our conclusions about What Is without filtering or judging these internal stories, and then applying the four questions and finding turnarounds.
One of my favorite things about The Work is that we get to begin with our own doorway in: our personal stressful experience.
And we really mean it when we say “unfiltered”. We don’t hold back, we get it all down in writing even if it’s embarrassing or weird or uncomfortable.
We find what frightens us, what has irritated us in the past, what’s made us upset about the future. We get it down on paper.
Sometimes these experiences feel like they’re almost soaked into us at a cellular level (many have observed that our difficulties are physically stored in our nervous system).
Whether that’s specifically true or not, the memories of our suffering certainly seem to be stored in our hearts and minds, and without inquiry these memories often plague us.
In spring cleaning retreat, we’ll all get to start with one uncomfortable situation we’ve experienced–from any day or time period in life–and write a Judge Your Neighbor worksheet. Current events have given many of us good opportunity to tap into stress and fear, and take a very close look.
I’ll help guide you in to where you’ll begin: a feeling inside of disturbance about what happened, or what’s happening, and identifying the thoughts that communicate what you believe about that experience.
Disease, communication with others, loss, worry, money, jobs, career, partnership, time, physical suffering, death, self-realization or lack of it, compulsion.
What bothers you? You’ll get to look. That’s the place to start.
If 100 things bother you, on our retreat (or any day you do The Work really) you’ll still get to begin with just one situation. A place you were betrayed, frightened, angered.
I love that our feelings and emotions show us the way. We don’t cover them up with shame…instead we actually sit with them and let them point to what bothers us.
I’m looking forward to joining in a small group of travelers through the joy of inquiry for spring retreat this year, and the joy of potentially sitting with you even if you live in an entirely different time zone.
To look up the schedule and understand more about the daily program during retreat, visit this page HERE.
Much love to all,
Grace
P.S.