“We must turn away from the cacophony of the outerworld to hear the inner voice. When we can dare to live its promptings, then we achieve personhood. We may become strangers to those who thought they knew us, but at least we are no longer strangers to ourselves.”
The inner life regularly calls for our attention, but it takes a real commitment to bring our focus within when so much grabs our attention in the routines of daily living. Whether or not you have been able to do your inner work along the way, we are inviting elders and adults of all ages who are motivated now for prioritizing their inner work to come together in co-creative community for this weekend retreat. We will embrace the second adulthood, or what Jungian analyst and author James Hollis calls “The Middle Passage, when the demands of the true self press persistently in an uprising against the acquired persona.”
This retreat will provide opportunities for silent meditation & reflection along with stimulating presentations and workshops on the processes of living with awareness and aging with grace. You will be supported to explore and express your inner life through poetry, creative writing, guided imagery and music, dance, small group discussions and soul collage art.
Each day will offer a balance of guided offerings and free time for inner exploration inside the Bermed Lodge and out in the forest and trails surrounding the Floyd EcoVillage. You will have time for tuning in, and renewing and deepening your skills in the practices of soulful aging and mindful living.
There will be a featured poetry reading on Friday Eve on the theme of soulful aging titled: Mining the Gold of the Inner Life. Colleen Redman and Katherine Chantal’s call-and-response poetry readings delve into primal wounds, honoring the past, humbling ego deaths and transcendence into elderhood and beyond. They approach poetry as a healing art that is informed by contemplation and depth psychology. They give voice to a process that poet David Whyte calls “apprenticing to our own disappearance,” a time when one is obliged to ask ‘Who am I, apart from my history and the roles I have played?’
Delicious meals, snacks and beverages provided throughout the retreat.
Retreat is open to adults of all ages. All levels of experience welcome!
Registrations are closed for this retreat
The Five Remembrances
I am of the nature to grow old. I cannot escape growing old.
I am of the nature to have ill health. I cannot escape having ill health.
I am of the nature to die. I cannot escape death.
All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature of change. I cannot escape being separated from them.
My deeds are my closest companions. I am the beneficiary of my deeds. My deeds are the ground on which I stand.
Retreat teachers
Jamie Reygle
Jamie Reygle, CMT-P (Executive Director) began studying meditation [...]
Bridget Simmerman
Bridget Simmerman, LCSW, RYT500 is a holistically oriented [...]
Nenden Stillman-Runyon
Nenden Stillman-Runyon, LCSW is a mental health therapist [...]
Workshop leaders
Katherine Chantal
Katherine Chantal is a reiki practitioner, meditator, [...]
Jessica Talley-Haynes
Jessica Talley-Haynes, LPC is a therapist trained [...]
For more information or questions, call 540-227-6377 or email admin@instillmindfulness.org.
RETREAT SCHEDULE
Friday
3:30-4:45 – Arrive, settle into your room
5-5:40 – Dinner
5:30 – Manager’s Announcements in Dining Hall
6:00 PM – Opening Ceremony in Meditation Hall
Brief arriving meditation
6:15 – Welcome – Dual themes of Mindful Living & Soulful Aging
6:30 – Setting intentions, aspirations & noting challenges;
Review Schedule & Noble Silence
7:00 – Brief intro on use of Anchors in Meditation – Body, Breath, & Sound
7:30 – Bathroom & Stretch Break
7:45 – Mining the Gold of the Inner Life ~ Poetry Reading
8:15 – Small discussion groups
9:15 – Final Sit
9:30 – Prep for sleep (noble silence)
Saturday
7:00 AM – Wake up! (noble silence)
7:30 – Mindful Movement & Sitting meditation practice
8:00 – Breakfast (noble silence)
8:30 – Free time
9:15 – Sitting Meditation with brief bit on Posture
9:45 – Walking meditation
10:00 – Sitting meditation practice
10:30 – Meditation Q & A
11:00 – Small discussion groups
12:00 PM – Lunch
1:15 – Free time
2:00 – Choice of Workshops
Workshop A : Self Portrait in Eulogy- creative writing with Colleen
Workshop B : Guided Imagery & Music with Mandala Art – Jessica
Workshop C: Mindful walking practice – Being in nature – Jamie
3:30 – Break/Solo Reflection Time
3:45 – Mindful movement
4:30 – Sitting meditation practice
5:00 – Dinner
5:30 – Free time
6:30 – Wisdom Talk
7:00 – Heart smiling self-compassion meditation
7:45 – Break – snack
8:00 – Small discussion groups
9:15 – Final Sitting meditation practice
9:45 – Sleep preparation (noble silence)
Sunday
7:00 AM – Wake up! (noble silence)
7:30 – Mindful Movement & Sitting meditation practice
8:00 – Breakfast
8:30 – Free time
9:15 – Walking meditation
9:45 – Sitting meditation practice
10:15 – Small discussion group
11:30 – Full group closing
Dyads: review intentions, motivation, priority time/place
Instructions for leaving retreat and gentle return home
Gratitude Bell
12:30 PM – Lunch
1:30 PM – Retreat concludes
