The Soul Garden

A springtime retreat for awakening
and caring for the inner garden
which sustains our lives.

Sorry, this retreat has been temporarily cancelled.

Matthew and I are looking to reschedule it though.

Let us know if you're still interested. [0]

Come experience the
fellowship and support
of an open-hearted community.

May 8 – 11

Boulder Hot Springs - Boulder, MT

Cost $350

• As the world awakens again, what new growth is occurring inside you?

• How can you nurture your own creative life-source?

• What tools do you use to tend to your soul garden?

A Poem for Spring

A light breather

The spirit moves,
Yet stays:
Stirs as a blossom stirs,
Still wet from its bud-sheath,
Slowly unfolding,
Turning in the light with its tendrils;
Plays as a minnow plays,
tethered to a limp weed, swinging,
Tail around, nosing in and out of the current,
Its shadow loose, a watery finger;
Moves, like the snail,
Still inward,
Taking and embracing its surroundings,
Never wishing itself away,
Unafraid of what it is,
A music in a hood,
A small thing,
Singing.

- Theodore Roethke

Thoughts from Matthew...

It is spring; a time to remember what growth looks like, what it feels like, to remember what happens to what we cultivate through our intentions and practices, and to plant the seeds of change and activation thoughtfully.

It’s a time to celebrate and reawaken the energy of spring (vernal) within and without. It’s a time of growing activity, of uncurling, of reaching, of planting, and increasing heat. In May, many of the seeds will be planted and many sprouts and flowers will be coming up. The nature of a retreat is to step away from the regular rhythm of one’s life, to take time for reflection, and find renewal, sustenance, and inspiration for our next move.

There are dreams and reveries to be shared in the morning. During the day, nature is asking me to wake into the increasing light, heat, and growth. At night, the darkness - perhaps contrasted by a fire in the center - invites me to dance and to trance, and to look at the thresholds between places and states... the liminal states.

What is the general message I’m getting for this retreat? Be in the body, tend to the vessel and strengthen the warrior body so it’s ready for the heat, ready to move easily with the energy of summer that’s to come and the work that needs to be done. Free and clear the mind and heart of the burden of the past and future, of the repetitive negative thoughts and patterns that hold it back. Open the mind/body to the creativity and growth that is the season, the tendrils that reach down into any available nook and cranny and up toward the sky. Free play. Creative problem solving and thinking.

If a movement toward healing comes I will honor it and take the time process it if necessary, but I’m not that interested in a “therapy” retreat where we intentionally crack open the wounds. I’m more interested in accenting the regular and sustained practices (the rhythms that create resonance), which foster long lasting change and evolution.

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