What Sustains Us: Exploring What is Essential Through Courage and Play

This retreat will explore the question of what sustains us in our lives when what we seek goes awry.  We are living through an unprecedented time.  In such times how can we stay connected with heart, curiosity and compassion?

We will work with the theme of What Sustains Us using The Nose to Nose approach and the Circle of Trust® work of Parker J. Palmer, both rooted in the belief that each of us has our own inner teacher to discern our way in the world.  We invite the wisdom of our inner knowing to emerge through interweaving the vulnerable playfulness of clowning with time for reflection, deep listening and sharing in a trustworthy community.

Through Clowning: we connect to our playful spirit.  We develop and sustain, in ourselves and each other, the courage to be who we truly are, to trust life and ourselves.  We explore joyfully the fears that block us from being fully present in the “here and now”.  By committing to living the absurd, the ridiculous and the tragic without judgement we invite transformation and change in our own daily lives.  We “become the other” in order to become more ourselves.  We move into the realm of metaphor and can explore the paradoxes of our lives in evocative ways.

Through the Circle of Trust approach: we create a process of shared exploration.  Through the principles and practices of this approach, we create a safe space for reflection and meaningful conversations to make deeper sense of what we are experiencing in clowning.  We find the courage to share our vulnerabilities, delights, gifts and limits.  We learn to trust our own wisdom to align our inner life with our outer work in the world.  We may see ourselves with curiosity and wonder for who we are.  The word Courage comes from a root that means “heart”.  “Taking heart” is a profoundly inward process, and an invitation for overcoming the fears that block us from being fully present in the “here and now”.

In this retreat we will interweave Clowning and Circle of Trust explorations. There will be time for learning together in the whole group, as well as time in small groups and chances for personal reflection and solitude.  Our invitation is to “create a quiet, focused, disciplined space in which the noise within us and around us can subside and the voice of the inner teacher can be heard.”

All are welcome: This retreat is open to all – no experience necessary.

Facilitators:
This program is co-facilitated by Courage & Renewal Facilitator Penny Williamson alongside Vivian Gladwell, creator of Nose to Nose UK in 1990, Nose to Nose of North America in 2006 and Fool View, the Social Clowning group.