VICTORIA FITTSMILGRIM LEADS RETREAT FOR MOMS
MOTHERS SHARING POWERFUL TIME
One thing about being a Retreat Coach Leader - it keeps you on your toes, always needing to stay present and be with what is actually going on... as I learned again last weekend, as I prepared to lead my annual FOR MOMS ONLY RETREAT, a one day event to honor, celebrate and deepen our relationship with ourselves as Mothers. I'd been dreaming my vision of this day for months! I had a wonderful site in temperate McElmo Canyon, home to many Anasazi ruins (the ancient Pueblo people who lived in SW Colorado about 800 years ago), and endless red rock canyons to explore. I had planned a day of activities that blended action and reflection, giving the group time to bond and share their Mother Wisdom and take time to listen to their own inner world. I had prepared a delicious lunch for all of us to share, as we sat in the SUN, in a wonderful grassy meadow, just outside a very unusual 'cave-house'. But as I checked the weather on Friday morning, I saw to my horror that the forecast didn't just call for rain - IT CALLED FOR SNOW, ALL WEEKEND, with temp's around 35 degrees!! (See photo above, with fresh snow on Sleeping Ute Mountain in the background). I was devastated! My vision definately did not include snow on May 6th! But living as I do in the Rockies, I have to remember that anything is possible. I spent the next 24 hours working on creating a new Vision - one that could embrace Snow if need be, along with any other thing that Spirit might throw at me! After all - If Spirit can throw it, I can dance with it!
The snow whipped in and out of Durango, where I live, all Friday and Saturday. Late on Saturday I headed west, the 60 miles out to McElmo. The weather was definately sketchy but I was committed. It was amazing to see how much snow had already fallen (see photo to left, around Mesa Verde Natl Park). Anyway, once I got to the home of my friend Joyce, who hosted this retreat, things started looking up.
Sunday morning all the women arrived and after spending a few
hours in Circle connecting and sharing about
our children and our lives
and having a wonderful lunch with fresh berry pies for dessert, we headed out for some sacred time on the land. Everywhere smelled so fresh! The high clouds kept us cool but no precipitation! One of our discoveries was an incredible petroglyph - a huge spiral carved in the ancient rock. We paused to discuss how our lives moved in and out on a spiral path, sometimes deepening, sometimes not - and the role having children played in all of that.
From the sandy wash we moved higher on the trail, topping out at a wonderful view above the whole canyon. We talked about what's possible when we get 'above' our life and can view it from the perspective of the eagle. How much more spacious things feel! How much more possibility there is!
After helping one another down some slickrock, we regrouped at the special cave-house. This cave has a wonderful overhang that protects it from the weather. And the family who owns this land, has built an outer wall, with windows and a door to create a little retreat house! We sat outside, on the 'patio' and I talked about Jean Shinoda Bolen's book "Urgent Message from Mother: Gather the Women, Save the World" and how as mothers we are so connected to the compassion and love necessary to direct the world in a more accepting and peaceful direction. But according to the Tibetan Shambhala Prophecy, that isn't enough - we need to blend our fiery love with the cooling insight that we are all connected and interdependent. Both are required to move us forward - on an inner level and in the physical world we call Earth. After sharing about this, I brought out large sticks and some yarn to make Beauty Prayer Arrows. By wrapping the yarn around the sticks, offering our prayers and intentions for the world, we created powerful ritual objects that hold our desire for change.
We completed our day in a ceremonial circle, in gratitude for so much richness in our lives. Each woman was honored for who she is as a Mother, as well as her powerful presence in the world.
Here's one retreatants comments:
"Many smiles on my face remembering Sunday. You are a magician with what you do. Loved to see the contemplation on faces while you spoke of crossroads and becoming the essence of ourselves." - Joyce K, Cortez, CO
You can find out more about my nourishing weekend retreats of self-discovery: Spa for the Soul Sep 28-30 and Living from Your Soul Oct 26-28 by visiting my web site www.truelifecoach.net If I can support you in living your True Life, via one on one coaching or women's retreats, please let me know. You can email me at victoria@truelifecoach.net.
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