Self Care Home Retreat Ecourse

Our lives are full.  Our days are busy.  Like Spider, we spin vast webs of attention and care out into our world.  We passionately engage with family, friends, community and creative life. We tend to the many details of home and work, our energy and love woven into all that we do.  Yet often the one we forget to care for is our own self.

 

After the work of Spider’s web is completed, she returns to the center and rests.  Spider’s gesture is a beautiful reminder of the value of turning inward, finding our center and abiding there to restore and replenish oneself.

When we make the time to nourish ourselves, our inner fire glows bright.  We are clear, strong, centered and able to engage mindfully and lovingly with all that life brings our way. When we care for ourselves, we are able to be fully present for our families, friends and for our creative lives.  And here’s the amazing thing: when we tend to our own fire, the invitation and inspiration is for those around us to care and support themselves.

InnerGlow Self Care Home Retreat is an offering of the practices and tools I turn to support physical, emotional and spiritual well-being.  After 18 years as a student of Yoga and Ayurveda and 12 years as an instructor, I’ve experienced the impact of exquisite self-care and I know all-too-well what happens when I neglect myself.  Yet nurturing oneself can be simple. Intuitive. What we are naturally drawn to do if we just follow our inner promptings. 

I know what I often need is a gentle reminder to check in with myself.  The space and time to be present and inquire as to what I truly need to be in my center.  InnerGlow Self Care Home Retreat is that space of support, ideas, and the loving nudge to take time for oneself.  Four weeks to snuggle in, explore, play, and try on some new and familiar practices for self care.  Think of it as a banquet or pu-pu platter of tips and suggestions to sample and see what suits your taste, your needs, your schedule, your life.   

Each week will focus upon a different aspect of self-care:

- beginnings, attitudes and routines (basic principles of Ayurveda;  yogic principles of wholeness & healing; designing & tweaking a simple yet loving, daily routine)

- movement and energy (fun & effective movement and breathing practices)

- restoration and relaxation (guided practices; yummy rest, journaling prompts)

- mindfulness, meditative being and presence (play, creativity, joy & bliss being!)

Each week a variety of practices and tools will be offered through essays, videos, audio files, and journaling prompts. These tools I would give to both my 8 year old daughter and my 87 year old mother.  Simple.  Do-able. Adaptable. Effective.   Try what tempts you, keep what nourishes you.

In supportive community let’s return to our center and abide in that place of balance, wisdom and deep connection of body, mind and heart.  Imagine a web of bright lights glowing clear and strong! Lit from within, our collective light baths our world in the warm glow of love and care. We abide in our InnerGlow.

I hope you’ll join me – it’s time to shine!  

Course FAQ's 

- Is this a yoga class?

No.  While I will draw upon principles and practices from Yoga, the course itself is designed to integrate into your daily routine and lifestyle. You won't need to touch your toes (although that might be beneficial!) nor will I be suggesting pretzel poses or complex meditation practices.  What I will offer from my yoga classes are the yummiest elements: guided relaxation and simple breath awareness exercises.

- What is Ayurveda?

Ayurveda is often called "the sister science" of Yoga.  It can be translated as "science of life" or "science of living."  It is one of the oldest holistic health care practices based upon the five elements of air, ether, earth, water and fire.  While principles of Ayurveda will be briefly discussed, it is a complex system and we will only touch upon some of the basic ideas.  Resources for further study will be offered for those interested in learning more.

- How will the course be run?
There will be a private blog to host all of the course materials.  After you sign up, you will be contacted via email a few days before the retreat begins with an invitation to join the private site. 

- What if I have to miss a week?

While it will be most beneficial to practice within the context of a supportive community, the course is not designed to build sequentially.  In other words, if you miss a week, you can come back join the group in a following week and later on return to the material you missed.

- How long will I have access to the materials?

The course will run live starting October 28 and end December 1.  Starting December 2 the materials will stay up through the end of February 2014, so you can revisit any segment of the course that interests you.  Community dialogue, questions and answers will take place during the live segment of the course; afterwards you may still post questions to the site but I will not be moderating discussions as closely as during the live segment.

- Wait, those dates are five weeks?

Yes, week four begins November 18 which corresponds with our Thanksgiving holiday, so I am giving us two weeks to work with the material for that final week.  As it is our week for mindfulness practices, it will be a perfect time to test some of those tools!

- How much time should I expect to devote to the course if I want to experience noticeable benefits?

The invitation is for you to show up and take whatever interests you, trying as few or as many of the practices as you wish to experience.  At a very basic level of commitment, you will read the posts, watch the videos and commit to one self care practice for the week.  That practice may be 5 minutes of mindfulness at the start of your day or a morning cleansing routine.  At the other end, you may gather several practices you wish to try for the entire four weeks.   Whatever level of commitment you feel comfortable making, that will be perfect for you.  The intention is to gently weave some new self care practices into you day and by the end of the four weeks have some established and supportive routines in place.

- How will the weeks be structured?

Each week will begin on a Monday with a video discussing the theme for that week.  Additional posts including short videos or audio files will be presented on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays.  For each week there will be a play sheet and journaling prompts to help you chart your experiences.  Each post will have a place for questions and discussion.

- Is this the same program you offered in 2012? 
The content for this retreat will be the same as what I offered in Autumn 2012 although I will be editing and adapting material based upon feedback from that offering.  If you took the program before and would like to participate in this session, you can do so at a discounted price.  Contact me directly for details. 

- What if I have specific questions or concerns?

Please feel free to email me: Lishofmann(at)novia(dot)net.

- When do we begin and what is the cost?

$55 for 4 weeks of material.  Materials will be available long after the closing post. 
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Important: Please be sure to contact me via email if you would like course information sent to an email address different from the one you use to register through Paypal. Otherwise all correspondence will go to that email account! 

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