Spirit Mountain Retreat

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1 Spirit Mountain Retreat Winter 2011 into Summer Programs Spirit Mountain Retreat Programs --Jan. - Sept Note: Programs will take place at Spirit Mountain Retreat unless otherwise indicated. JANUARY January 11, TUESDAY A Day of Mindfulness: Living Mindfully ~ A Way of Being When mind and heart flow as one, awareness rises without blame or rejection, and compassion flowers freely and gently. Are you ready to tap into the energy of mindfulness, of being aware and awake to the present moment? To live mindfully is to be truly alive. Mindfulness is a practice that opens you to experience the sights and sounds around you. It gives you the courage to face your fears, anxieties and a way to hold life s circumstances with understanding and compassion. Join a day of contemplative stillness, mindfulness practice, guidance and soulful sharing. Our lunch is enjoyed in silence. Date: Tuesday, January 11 Time: 9:30 am 3pm. (lunch included) Suggested Donation: $25 - $35 January Woman s Winter Retreat: Mother Night and Seeing in the Dark The Creative life force is urging and nudging us to move into the realm of mystery, dreams, darkness, and the unexpected. At this turning of the year, we reclaim the soulful gifts set into our soul at birth. Gifts abandoned possibly in the unconscious through neglect, ignorance and fear. We will draw upon Mother Night: Myths, Stories and Teachingsby Clarissa Pinkola Estes. Mother Night is our wild companion as we kneel to dig down to mine the raw gems of spirit, soul and creative life, bringing diamonds from the darkness again or for the very first time. 1

2 What if the world is starving for soulful gifts only you carry? We can help each other, like the Navi, to say I see you! MSW Date: Friday, January 21 Sunday, January 23 Time: Friday, 7:30pm Sunday 12:30pm Arrival Time: Friday 3pm, supper is on your own. Fee: $250 includes retreat, private room at Spirit Mountain and meals. Commuter Fee: $150 includes retreat and meals Deposit: $50 by January 10th FEBRUARY February 14 A Day of Mindfulness: Living Mindfully ~ A Way of Being There is only one ancient and forever work of art: the slow fashioning of life and the gradual awakening of Love. --Anne Hillman Are you ready to tap into the energy of mindfulness, of being aware and awake to the present moment? To live mindfully is to be truly alive. Mindfulness is a practice that opens you to experience the sights and sounds around you. It gives you the courage to face your fears, anxieties and a way to hold life s circumstances with understanding and compassion. Join in a day of contemplative stillness, mindfulness practice, guidance and soulful sharing. Our lunch is enjoyed in silence. Date: Monday, February 14 Time: 9:30 am 3pm. (lunch included) Suggested Donation: $25 - $35 February 19 Cancelled - SNOW Re-scheduled for March 26th Unplug your way into: Winter Stillness ~ A Silent Contemplative Retreat No writing on the solitary, contemplative dimensions of life can say anything that has not already been said better by the wind in the pine trees. --Thomas Merton 2

3 Unplug, turn off, from your social network and connect anew with the depths of your inner life, the voice of your inner spirit, and inner longing. If you have experience making a retreat ~ Come! If you have never made a retreat ~ Come! We are all beginners in the land of inner connecting. We will share times of silence, writing, meditating and sharing the fruits of our listening. Join a day retreat, 7 hours unplugged. Also, you may wish to consider an overnight at the Center experiencing 24 hours turned off. It is an opportunity to deepen awareness of the present moment and the choices that are yours. Date: Saturday February 19 Time: 9:30 am 4:00pm (lunch included) Program Fee: $60 Overnight Fee: $70 includes evening meal and Sunday breakfast. MARCH March 12 Be More with Less Stress Since you have only moments to live, why not live them completely, and find out what it might mean to be true more of the time to your own deepest, most authentic nature? There is a lot more right with you than wrong with you! --Jon Kabat-Zinn Learn the power of paying attention and increasing awareness. Mindfulness practice can make a difference in the quality of your life especially as it relates to stress, anxiety and the pressures of everyday life. It can improve your relationships and help free you from difficult emotions, thoughts and behaviors. Come, join in this day and discover how the practice of mindfulness is a wonderful resource for bringing greater balance, and well being into your life. Facilitator: Beth Mulligan, PA-C Date: March 12 Time: 10:00am to 4pm Suggested Donation: $50 -$60 includes lunch Beth Mulligan, PA-C, received her B.S. from Tufts University, her Physician Assistant training at Duke University Medical School, and has practiced medicine for twenty five years in settings such as, LA County Hospital, Inner City Clinics in Los Angeles, and private practices in the Coachella Valley. In 3

4 2002 she attended Teacher Training for Health Professionals with Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, and brought the first Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program to the Coachella Valley, where it is taught at Eisenhower Hospital, and other locations. She currently studies and has lived in residence at Yokoji Zen Monastery. Visit What I love about teaching Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, is we are offering simple, but deeply effective, ancient tools that people can use themselves anytime, anywhere. -- Beth Mulligan March 14 A Day of Mindfulness: Living Mindfully ~ A way of Being One of the most important benefits of mindfulness is attentiveness to what is happening in your body, your mind and your environment having less emotional reactivity and more stability of mind. -- Susan Bauer Are you ready to tap into the energy of mindfulness, of being aware and awake to the present moment? To live mindfully is to be truly alive. Mindfulness is a practice that opens you to experience the sights and sounds around you. It gives you the courage to face your fears, anxieties and a way to hold life s circumstances with understanding and compassion. Join a day of contemplative stillness, mindfulness practice, guidance and soulful sharing. Our lunch is enjoyed in silence. Date: Monday, March 14 Time: 9:30 am 3pm. (lunch included) Suggested Donation: $25 - $35 March 20 Spring Equinox Ritual Celebration Within the dark moist soil life stirs. Sacred soil of Earth, you remind us of all that germinates in the dark and waits for the moment to Spring Forth! At the time of Equinox we celebrate the coming of Spring ~ Earth s great Transformative Ritual. Because we come from Earth and carry Earth s energies within us, we are called to be actively involved in transforming our lives, our relationships and the world. 4

5 Gather with Local Color and Spirit Mountain as we strengthen through word, song and silence our commitment to transformation. Date: March 20 at Spirit Mountain Retreat Time: 4-5pm Contact: or March 24 Living Through Transition and Loss: Being Present to Your Grief Thursday Morning 7-Week Series In every heart there is an inner room, where we can hold our greatest treasures and our deepest pain. -- Marianne Williamson This program is designed for members of our community who are experiencing loss and transition in their lives. Your loss may be the death of a life partner, serious illness, relationship challenges due to divorce or separation, or financial crisis. All requiring a process of transition that is most difficult and yet transforming. As you open the door becoming present to your own pain as well as to the suffering of others, your heart can open and the healing light of compassion shine through. In a group such as this, you receive support, care, and love ~ love enough to carry you through your journey of grief. You can begin to feel a renewed sense of energy and confidence, recognizing that your life, like all of our lives, are forever changed by grief and loss. Day and Time: Thursday Mornings 10:00am 12:00pm MSW This Program is partially funded by the Idyllwild Community Fund. There is no charge ~ donations are welcome. March 31 Living Through Transition and Loss: Being Present to Your Grief Thursday Morning 7 Week Series March 24, 31, April 7, 14,21, 28, May 5 See description above (March 24). 5

6 Day and Time: Thursday Mornings 10:00am 12:00pm MSW This Program is partially funded by the Idyllwild Community Fund. There is no charge ~ donations are welcome. APRIL April 7 Living Through Transition and Loss: Being Present to Your Grief Thursday Morning 7-Week Series See description above (March 24). Day and Time: Thursday Mornings 10:00am 12:00pm MSW This Program is partially funded by the Idyllwild Community Fund. There is no charge ~ donations are welcome. April 9 Unplug your Way Into: Spring Awakening ~ A Silent Contemplative Retreat No writing on the solitary, contemplative dimensions of life can say anything that has not already been said better by the wind in the pine trees. -- Thomas Merton Unplug, turn off, from your social network and connect anew with the depths of your inner life, the voice of your inner spirit, and inner longing. If you have experience making a retreat ~ Come! If you have never made a retreat ~ Come! We are all beginners in the land of inner connecting. We will share times of silence, writing, meditating and sharing the fruits of our listening. 6

7 Join a day retreat, 7 hours unplugged. Also, you may wish to consider an overnight at the Center experiencing 24 hours turned off. It is an opportunity to deepen awareness of the present moment and the choices that are yours. Date: Saturday, April 9 Time: 9:30 am 4:00pm (lunch included) Program Fee: $60 Overnight Fee: $70 includes evening meal and Sunday breakfast. April 11 A Day of Mindfulness: Living Mindfully ~ A way of Being It is impossible to be like somebody else. Your only hope is to become more fully yourself. In mindfulness practice you take responsibility for being yourself and learning to listen to and trust your own being. -- Jon Kabat-Zinn Are you ready to tap into the energy of mindfulness, of being aware and awake to the present moment? To live mindfully is to be truly alive. Mindfulness is a practice that opens you to experience the sights and sounds around you. It gives you the courage to face your fears, anxieties and a way to hold life s circumstances with understanding and compassion. Join a day of contemplative stillness, mindfulness practice, guidance and soulful sharing. Our lunch is enjoyed in silence. Date: Monday, April 11 Time: 9:30 am 3pm. (lunch included) Suggested Donation: $25 - $35 April 14 Living Through Transition and Loss: Being Present to Your Grief Thursday Morning 7-Week Series See description above (March 24). 7

8 Day and Time: Thursday Mornings 10:00am 12:00pm MSW This Program is partially funded by the Idyllwild Community Fund. There is no charge ~ donations are welcome. April 21 Living Through Transition and Loss: Being Present to Your Grief Thursday Morning 7-Week Series See description above (March 24). Day and Time: Thursday Mornings 10:00am 12:00pm MSW This Program is partially funded by the Idyllwild Community Fund. There is no charge ~ donations are welcome. April 28 Living Through Transition and Loss: Being Present to Your Grief Thursday Morning 7-Week Series See description above (March 24). Day and Time: Thursday Mornings 10:00am 12:00pm MSW This Program is partially funded by the Idyllwild Community Fund. There is no charge ~ donations are welcome. 8

9 April 30 Stumbling into Happiness! Is that really what happens? We just stumble into Happiness! What is Happiness? How happy are you? Would you know happy if you saw it or felt it? Where is your happiness? A voice within or without may question why concern ourselves with happiness, when there is so much suffering and pain all around us. One response might be: Why add more to the sorrows, when I can awaken to and live in a field of happiness, to the benefit of myself and everyone around me? The Dalai Lama tells us: Whether we are able to admit it or not we all wish to be happy! We want to be happy in our job, in our relationships, in our life. It is deep in our human nature to be happy. Come join a day retreat to explore the wellspring of happiness within yourself. Together let s cultivate a greater threshold for happiness in our lives, for all beings and our world. Date: Saturday April 30 Time: 9:30 4:00pm (lunch included) Suggested Donation: $55 - $60 Facilitators: Esther Kennedy MSW and Joan Zerrien MA Esther Kennedy, MSW, is becoming more and more aware that happiness is really an inside job. She believes that there is a bedrock of happiness within each of us that no outer circumstance can ever really destroy. How to awaken and access this deep sense of happiness has captured her interest and imagination. Esther is Director of Spirit Mountain Retreat in Idyllwild, Ca. Joan Zerrien, MA Counseling Psychology, is a writer and mother in Idyllwild, Ca. In 2010 Joan cocreated a writers' retreat program, "Write Ways to Love", with Susan Bono, editor of Tiny Lights online. Her experience of and beliefs about happiness have been shifting from external conditions to the internal landscape for some time now. MAY May 5 Living Through Transition and Loss: Being Present to Your Grief Thursday Morning 7-Week Series See description above (March 24). 9

10 Day and Time: Thursday Mornings 10:00am 12:00pm MSW This Program is partially funded by the Idyllwild Community Fund. There is no charge ~ donations are welcome. May 7 and 14 Contemplative Garden Clean up ~ Mark Your Calendar The Winter is over and Spring has sprung and the Contemplative Garden awaits your presence and care. Can you come for a few hours in the morning or afternoon on the 7th or the 14th? You can rake, trim, weed, plant help feed the hungry workers. Along with your energy and enthusiasm bring your gloves, tools, and your love for beauty. There is a job for you and I promise the multitudes will be fed! Thank You. RSVP by May 1st Call 95l or Abigail@spiritmountainretreat.org May 9 A Day of Mindfulness: Living Mindfully ~ A way of Being Mindfulness doesn t just come about by itself. The intention to practice comes in whether you feel like it or not, convenient or not, but for its own sake, because this moment is your life. -- Jon Kabat-Zinn Are you ready to tap into the energy of mindfulness, of being aware and awake to the present moment? To live mindfully is to be truly alive. Mindfulness is a practice that opens you to experience the sights and sounds around you. It gives you the courage to face your fears, anxieties and a way to hold life s circumstances with understanding and compassion. Join a day of contemplative stillness, mindfulness practice, guidance and soulful sharing. Our lunch is enjoyed in silence. Date: Monday, May 9 Time: 9:30 am 3pm. (lunch included) Suggested Donation: $25 - $35 10

11 May 14 Contemplative Garden Clean up ~ Mark Your Calendar The Winter is over and Spring has sprung and the Contemplative Garden awaits your presence and care. Can you come for a few hours in the morning or afternoon on the 7th or the 14th? You can rake, trim, weed, plant help feed the hungry workers. Along with your energy and enthusiasm bring your gloves, tools, and your love for beauty. There is a job for you and I promise the multitudes will be fed! Thank You. RSVP by May 1st Call 95l or Abigail@spiritmountainretreat.org May 15 Be More with Less Stress Since you have only moments to live, why not live them completely, and find out what it might mean to be true more of the time to your own deepest, most authentic nature? There is a lot more right with you than wrong with you! -- Jon Kabat-Zinn Learn the power of paying attention and increasing awareness. Mindfulness practice can make a difference in the quality of your life especially as it relates to stress, anxiety and the pressures of everyday life. It can improve your relationships and help free you from difficult emotions, thoughts and behaviors. Come, join in this day and discover how the practice of mindfulness is a wonderful resource for bringing greater balance, and well-being into your life. Facilitator: Beth Mulligan, PA-C Date: Sunday May 15 Time: 10:00am to 4:00pm Suggested Donation: $50 -$60 includes lunch Beth Mulligan, PA-C, received her B.S. from Tufts University, her Physician Assistant training at Duke University Medical School, and has practiced medicine for twenty-five years in settings such as LA County Hospital, Inner City Clinics in Los Angeles, and private practices in the Coachella Valley. In 2002 she attended Teacher Training for Health Professionals with Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, and brought the first Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program to the Coachella Valley where it is taught at Eisenhower Hospital and other locations. She currently studies and has lived in residence at Yokoji Zen Monastery. Visit 11

12 JUNE June Woman s Writing Retreat There is a wisdom that arises... like the force that drives green shoots to break the winter ground... --China Galland In the early summer atmosphere and retreat setting of Spirit Mountain, find again what are the green shoots of your creativity just waiting to emerge to nurture your writing and unearth your life stories. The retreat will focus on helping both beginning and advanced writers build their writing skills and awaken new insights in a supportive group setting. Join us at the celebratory time of summer solstice to re-discover this life 'wisdom that arises'. Writing exercises and prompts will help guide the process. Surrounded by a bowl of Granite Mountains and huge Ponderosa pine and cedar forests, your creativity will soar. Join us for this weekend writing experience. Date: June Time: Friday, 7:30p.m.-Sunday, 12:30p.m. Arrival time: Friday after 3pm, supper is on your own. Fee: $250 includes retreat, private room at Spirit Mountain Retreat Commuter Fee: $150 for retreat and meals Deposit: $50 by May 1 (Retreat limited to 14 Participants) Facilitator: Katya Williamson, MFA, has led numerous workshops and retreats on this process in the Western United States, Hawaii, and England. She recently authored Bringing the Soul Back Home: Writing in the New Consciousness published by "O" books in England. June 13 A Day of Mindfulness: Living Mindfully ~ A way of Being The Buddha spoke of mindfulness as the most direct way to overcome sorrow and suffering and awaken to contentment and happiness. Are you ready to tap into the energy of mindfulness, of being aware and awake to the present moment? To live mindfully is to be truly alive. Mindfulness is a practice that opens you to experience the sights and sounds around you. It gives you the courage to face your fears, anxieties and a way to hold life s circumstances with understanding and compassion. 12

13 Join a day of contemplative stillness, mindfulness practice, guidance and soulful sharing. Our lunch is enjoyed in silence. Date: Monday, June 13 Time: 9:30 am 3pm. (lunch included) Suggested Donation: $25 - $35 June 18 Leaping Forward - A Special Retreat for Men Most people say they believe in these universally spiritual concepts:be Compassionate; Beliefs Matter; Be Present; Choices Abound; Everything is Energy; Have an Attitude of Gratitude; Intentions Matter; Judgments Separate Us; Mind and Body Are Connected; Take Responsibility; The Law of Attraction Is Always On; We Are All Connected; Here We Belong to the Planet, Not the Planet to Us. And most people also say it's really, really hard to apply them to everyday life. If you're a man in this category, please join Steven Morrison, M.A. for a day-long retreat using any and all of the concepts listed above. We will clarify and make crystal clear what it is we are wanting from our lives from this day forward and what, if any, blocks we may have to receiving what we are wanting. We will explore relationships, careers, physical health, finances, and anything else that may be challenging you - all with the support and in the company of like-spirited men. Date: June 18 Time: 10am 4pm Suggested Donation: $60 (includes lunch) ~ all donations to benefit Spirit Mountain Retreat Overnight Availability: $70 includes Saturday evening meal and Sunday breakfast Facilitator: Steven Morrison MA Registration: Call or abigail@spiritmountainretreat.org Connect with Steven thespiritualworkout@gmail.com blog: thespiritualworkout.blogspot.com and Facebook (search "Spiritual Workout"). Steven is the creator of the Spiritual Workout and author of An Extra Year: Grief and Loss in the New Age. Having started his career in the corporate world, he is also a former psychotherapist who has made his obsession - helping people to anchor the universally spiritual concepts with which he works into their daily life experiences - into his profession. Steven lives in Idyllwild. 13

14 June 19 Summer Solstice Ritual Celebration Summer is a cumin in. The longest day of the year is upon us. The light has been a cumin since we gathered at the Winter Solstice. This celebration is about water and sun, and we look to summer as a time of passion, for getting outdoors, for enjoying the good weather and for the flourish of all life. Water to nourish refresh and quench the dryness of Earth and sun to energize and quicken the flowering of everything. Local Color and Spirit Mountain are ready to guide us into a Mid-Summer s Night Date: Sunday, June 19 Time: 4 5 pm Place: Spirit Mountain Retreat Contemplative Garden Bring a planting ~ an annual or perennial for the garden ~ even if only in your heart. JULY July 9 An Expressive Arts Retreat for Mothers and their Daughters~ Letting Go and Holding On What is the legacy we all bring as women who becomes mothers? What do daughters teach their mothers about themselves while bringing insight to their own womanhood? Bring your mother, bring your daughter, and discover the balance of Letting Go and Holding On to this fragile yet powerful relationship between mother and daughter. The gift of the bond between Mothers and Daughters is experienced and celebrated through the arts, which may include: visual arts, movement, voice, writing/poetry, and theater. This is an experience of healing and discovery through Expressive Arts. No art experience necessary Minimum age for daughters 16 years old Date: Saturday, July 9 Time: 10:00 to 4:00pm Fee: $65 per person includes lunch. Deposit of $30 per person requested by June 26th (checks only) Group is limited to 14 participants so register early! 14

15 For further information contact Anita or acarter523@sbcglobal.net Anita Aguilar-Carter, MA owner and creator of ArtSense, is an expressive arts therapist and former professional dancer. Anita earned her MA in counseling at University of San Diego, completed post-masters work earning a Professional Diploma from the Expressive Arts Institute of San Diego and holds both a degree in Psychology and a minor in Women's Studies from California State University, San Marcos. Thirty years combined experience in Expressive Arts, counseling, psychology research, art and dance has enabled her to experience and explore the transformative power of art making to better peoples lives. Presently Anita brings ArtSense to homeless veterans recovering from drug/alcohol addictions and offers the healing arts to women suffering the experience of human trafficking. July 11 A Day of Mindfulness: Living Mindfully ~ A way of Being If you maintain a feeling of compassion, loving kindness, then something automatically opens your inner door. --Dalai Lama Are you ready to tap into the energy of mindfulness, of being aware and awake to the present moment? To live mindfully is to be truly alive. Mindfulness is a practice that opens you to experience the sights and sounds around you. It gives you the courage to face your fears, anxieties and a way to hold life s circumstances with understanding and compassion. Join a day of contemplative stillness, mindfulness practice, guidance and soulful sharing. Our lunch is enjoyed in silence. Date: Monday, July 11 Time: 9:30 am 3pm. (lunch included) Suggested Donation: $25 - $35 15

16 AUGUST August 6 You are Invited ~ Silent Auction Fundraiser for Spirit Mountain Retreat Featuring Original Fine Art and other special items to bid on! The afternoon will offer a Good time, Refreshments and Music, Fun for all, and provide funds for scholarships, programming and on-going care of the Contemplative Garden. Date: Saturday, August 6 Time: 1pm 4pm Admission Fee: $5.00 Contact: August 15 A Day of Mindfulness: Living Mindfully ~ A way of Being Mindfulness calls me to stay awake, to feel what I feel, to know what I know, to be who I am, and all this in a non-judgmental, receptive and loving way. Are you ready to tap into the energy of mindfulness, of being aware and awake to the present moment? To live mindfully is to be truly alive. Mindfulness is a practice that opens you to experience the sights and sounds around you. It gives you the courage to face your fears, anxieties and a way to hold life s circumstances with understanding and compassion. Join a day of contemplative stillness, mindfulness practice, guidance and soulful sharing. Our lunch is enjoyed in silence. Date: Monday, July 11 Time: 9:30 am 3pm. (lunch included) Suggested Donation: $25 - $35 16

17 August 20 Writing from Personal Experience: Exercises for Writing Vignettes, Essays, and Memoir Whether you are new to writing or experienced, join us in using writing exercises guaranteed to help you shape your experiences for the page in ways that illuminate your spirit and ensure your voice is heard. This is an opportunity for filling your notebooks with healthy starts and receiving help in shaping those starts using a special, author empowering three-step response method. During this day you ll bring your writing to a new level while learning how to give and receive the kind of response that helps writers write. Date: Saturday, August 20 Time: 9:30 am 4:30pm Fee: $70 (includes lunch) Registration: Call or abigail@spiritmountainretreat.org Sheila Bender is the author of over ten books on writing as well as two collections of poetry and a memoir. Her newest books are Creative Writing Demystified (McGraw-Hill), Writing and Publishing Personal Essays (Silver Threads Publishing), A New Theology: Turning to Poetry in a Time of Grief(Imago Press) and Writing in a New Convertible with the Top Down, co-authored with Christi Killien and available through Booktrope.com. She has been a feature writer and columnist for Writer s Digest Magazine and The Writer Magazine. Since 2002, Sheila publishes weekly articles for those who write from personal experience at SEPTEMBER September 24 Photography Retreat with Francoise Frigola. Mark your Calendar. Program description and information will be coming soon. 17