Scared and sacred are spelled with the same letters. Awful proceeds from the same root word as awesome. Terrify and terrific. Every negative experience holds the seed of transformation.
–Alan Cohen
Hello beautiful souls! I wanted to do some updates about the goings on around here, especially about the retreats. Many of you are asking about them, so this seems like the best way to do it.
First, yes– all of the spots for the New Mexico retreats are full, at least for this year. We will probably do a larger, longer group retreat next year in Abiquiu, NM, with the option for individual retreats again. In the meantime, we are doing most of them in St. Louis. We have one spot left for August, so if you are interested in doing a Dragonfly Healing Intensive Retreat, please let me know as soon as possible.
We have 2 weekends left in November and 2 in December, and we’ll most likely be focusing on issues dealing with food, shame, old triggers and family of origin issues around that time of year. It’s interesting how much comes up for people about shame, body image, food, cravings, and just a generalized funky angst when the holidays roll around. If you would like to enter into a process that will transform your whole experience around shame, stress and what triggers it, let’s discuss a one or two day retreat for you.
There have also been other questions about if I am still doing t 1:1 work, and YES! So allow me address that here as well— Some of you have been around Blessings Enterprises for several years and have experienced one on one work. That will continue, as will phone sessions for clients nationwide. In addition, The Amazing Becky Wallace and I have collaborated to offer healing retreat intensives, which we have named Dragonfly Retreats. So, a bit about that:
The story of the creation of Dragonfly Retreats can be summed up in the words of Aristotle: “Where your talents and the needs of the world cross; there lies your vocation.”
Why the Dragonfly? Quite simply, the dragonfly symbolizes change and transformation. When the dragonfly shows up in your life, it means it’s time for a change. It is a time when you may be called to live and experience your life differently, to move from surviving to really thriving. The invitation is to dive deeper into your emotions as it encourages us to face the illusions, internal or external, that you carry.
The dragonfly has the ability to adapt to many situations. They begin life living in the water, and live the rest of their lives in the air with the ability to fly, encouraging you to stay open to the changes in your personal journey. As the dragonfly grows and matures, it changes colors, develops 360 degree eyesight, and learns intricate patterns of flight. As a symbol of metamorphosis and transformation, it inspires you to bring about the changes needed in your life in order to reach full potential, see through the illusions, and find your personal authenticity.
I suppose at some level, the work I have done individually through Blessings Enterprises is certainly part of Dragonfly medicine, and remains so. But something magical happens when two or more are gathered in the name of healing, and Dragonfly Retreats capture that mystical quality of creation and healing. When you have two people working with you, and you have our undivided attention for six hours, things move very quickly, very deeply, and yet very gently. The EMDR opens the brain to lasting changes, and combined with the soul retrievals and energetic balancing, you begin to clear the patterns that may have been held deep in your body, brain and soul. Two days allows you to integrate and anchor in the changes, but sometimes one day is all that is needed. We will help you discern the best path for you and your desires.
What you begin to find is that it is safe to listen to your longing, it is safe to open your heart and find the love for yourself. Every part of you has a right to be heard, yet you may feel as though you do not have permission to speak your truth. As a child, or even as an adult, you may have been silenced, and now spend much of your life simply tolerating your existence. You may spend a great deal of your life force energy simply covering up the chaos around you, making up for the addictions in yourself or another, compensating for their lack of ambition, their inability or unwillingness to feel, grow or change. You may be simply existing in a life you built, the one you thought you “should” have, yet have never really lived the life you want for yourself. The time for change may have come, but sometimes an hour a week is simply not enough concentrated energy to take you deep into yourself. Dragonfly Retreats was created to address this issue, to help you create a life you want, instead of the one that was projected onto you. These days are designed for those ready to discover self mastery, self-discovery and transformation.
Your retreat is one or two days of concentrated time just for you. We invite you to create your own custom retreat designed to gently answer the deepest questions of your heart and soul. If the past haunts you, and your own critical voice taunts you, remember that lost, fearful voice is in you is just something small and scared within you, a part of you that needs your love and attention. Every part of you has a right to be heard, and your retreat is designed to allow every part of you to have a voice, in a safe and supportive atmosphere.
Questions matter, because they lead you inward to your truth. What is the meaning of my life? How do I create my own path of peace, purpose, love and meaning? How do I align my values with my work and family life? How can my heart feel so heavy and so empty at the same time? Why do I sabotage myself every time I’m on the verge of a breakthrough?
These questions are always an invitation, the beginning of possibility, of creation, of a calling. A part of you may have been observing your life from the edges, and now you are being beckoned to the Center. We will help you find the map to the labyrinth of your soul that leads you ever inward, to the place where your peace and answers lie. The turbulence in you will feel as though it has been replaced with a gentle calm, the darkness within you replaced with a gentle light.
Your retreat is an invitation, a Gateway to Awakening, an investment in yourself. This is a time of deep exploration that can transform trauma, further personal growth, enhance the quality of your relationships and align your work with meaning and purpose. We invite you to allow this transformative experience into every part of your life, creating the space for allowing a whole new way of Being. You are worth it, you are deserving of love and belonging. You always have the invitation, so Come. Join us at the table, and feast on your own life.
As always, questions are welcome. If you feel like a Dragonfly Retreat might be fruitful, feel free to contact me. We have one Saturday left in August, and two weekends left in November 2014, as well as two weekends left in December 2014. If you want the holidays to be different this year; if you want to address the shame that underlies the feelings of lost, frozen or stuck; if you want to deepen into the mastery of your own body, mind and spirit, send me an email or give me a call.
Hope you all have a great weekend!