“Find ways to connect back to your body and mind. Find ways to intentionally slow down.
Find ways to re-imagine and snatch rest right now. It is your divine and human right to do so.”
– Tricia Hersey, thenapministry.com
Do you find yourself in work that is killing your spirit, even work that you love on some levels, maybe many levels, maybe no levels? Soul Care, a series of eight 2-hour sessions, using the Courage & Renewal® approach, is designed to support anyone overwhelmed by “grind culture,” the inhumane expectations of institutional life to prioritize work above everything else. How do we uphold our values for wholeness, balance, well-being, and integrity in the face of an onslaught of dysfunctional external as well as internal cultural and institutional demands? There is no easy solution, but I’m convinced that by creating an ongoing Circle of Trust, we can support one another in finding our own individual paths toward a saner, healthier, more loving way of life. I see this challenge to grind culture as a courageous, essential part of societal transformation.
Practicing the Touchstones, guidelines for creating a Circle of Trust, we invite a trustworthy, sacred, confidential space in which to do our own inner work in solitude and community. In each session, we have the opportunity to listen deeply to our inner teacher (soul, spirit, still small voice, inner guide, whatever you may call this) and to one another in small groups and the whole group, speaking from the heart. Since a Circle of Trust is enriched by metaphors, we will reflect on “third things”: poetry, prose, images, experiences in the natural world, video, and song. The quality of the space is shaped by the practices that everything we do is invitational, and there is no fixing, advising, saving, or correcting. Instead listening generously and learning to ask open, honest questions unfold new possibilities in our relationships with self and others. Holding paradox, our hearts find new ways forward together in our increasingly violent and exquisite, mystery-rich world.
This retreat series is based on the work of Parker J. Palmer and the Center for Courage & Renewal. The Courage & Renewal approach, described in Palmer’s book A Hidden Wholeness, focuses on cultivating our inner capacity to live a more authentic, meaningful, and engaged life. While retreats on Zoom are necessarily different to being together in person, our experience has been that, informed by Courage & Renewal principles, practices, and touchstones, we can wholeheartedly create a trustworthy, brave space with our attention, imagination, and confidential conversations.
Prerequisite: Previous participation in a Circle of Trust® retreat or other Courage & Renewal Facilitator-led program
If interested in joining this series, please email Cat Greenstreet, catgreenstreet@gmail.com
The Center for Courage & Renewal and its facilitators do not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, age, height, weight, physical or mental ability, veteran status, military obligations, and marital status.
