Walking the Shoreline: a Circle of Trust® retreat in Ireland

It’s just the way it changes, like the shoreline and the sea – Leonard Cohen

What seas what shores what grey rocks and what islands
What water lapping the bow – T.S. Eliot

How are you navigating the tides and currents of the world today? What changes and transitions are you experiencing?  What is being washed up on the shores of your life? What is being carried away by the waves? As the tide retreats, what is being revealed to you? Are there rocks and islands in your life that remain constant and firm amid the shifting of the waters? We invite you to offer yourself the opportunity to explore these themes in the spacious tranquillity of a three-day retreat, edge-walking the shorelines of your life.

The theme of this retreat – Walking the Shoreline – is inspired by our location and by the season of the year. Ballyvaloo retreat center is situated by the sea in beautiful County Wexford, Ireland and has its own private access to the beach. The rhythm of the retreat will include opportunities to explore the shoreline, to see what the tides bring in and what they carry away, to beachcomb, to gather and discard, to notice what is on the horizon. The retreat falls at the festival of Bealtaine in the Celtic calendar, a time to mark the transition into summer. The lighting of bonfires at Bealtaine symbolizes purification, protection and growth, invoking blessings for the season to come.

During this three-day retreat, we will walk the shoreline together, guided by the Courage & Renewal^® approach. We will create a sacred, confidential space in which to do our own inner work in solitude and community. We will have the opportunity to listen generously to our inner teacher and to one another in small groups and the whole group, speaking from the heart. A Circle of Trust^® is enriched by metaphors, and we will reflect on “third things”: poetry, prose, images, 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 can open new doors in our relationships with self and others as we explore the ebb and flow of our experience.  We invite you to enter into a time of reflection, renewal and hope as we walk our shorelines together.

let me
Resign my life for this life, my speech for that unspoken,
The awakened, lips parted, the hope, the new ships. – T.S. Eliot

Joining Michele le Roux in facilitation for this event is Sue Saunders, currently in the preparation process to be a facilitator with the Center for Courage & Renewal, having participated in a number of Circle of Trust retreats. She has over 40 years’ experience as a psychotherapist, coach, supervisor and trainer. She also has extensive experience in the corporate world particularly in information technology. She founded a counselling centre in 2012 and most recently held the positions of Lecturer and Director of Education. She has delivered training to health professionals and the public, providing courses and workshops to businesses, educators, parents, students and military personnel both in Ireland, the UK, the Netherlands, Bosnia and the USA. She is author of the book Navigating the Teenage Years – a compassionate approach. She is currently completing a PhD investigating and researching Contemplative Practices with the South East Technological University in Waterford, Ireland.